diff options
Diffstat (limited to '34036.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 34036.txt | 8587 |
1 files changed, 8587 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/34036.txt b/34036.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5954230 --- /dev/null +++ b/34036.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8587 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Malta, by Maturin M. Ballou + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of Malta + +Author: Maturin M. Ballou + +Release Date: October 5, 2010 [EBook #34036] +Last updated: October 31, 2014 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF MALTA *** + + + + +Produced by Julia Miller, Barbara Kosker and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +By Maturin M. Ballou. + +THE STORY OF MALTA. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + +EQUATORIAL AMERICA. Descriptive of a Visit to St. Thomas, Martinique, +Barbadoes, and the Principal Capitals of South America. Crown 8vo, +$1.50. + +AZTEC LAND. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + +THE NEW ELDORADO. A Summer Journey to Alaska. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + +ALASKA. The New Eldorado. A Summer Journey to Alaska. _Tourist's +Edition_, with 4 maps. 16mo, $1.00. + +DUE WEST; or, ROUND THE WORLD IN TEN MONTHS. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + +DUE SOUTH; or, CUBA PAST AND PRESENT. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + +UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS; or, TRAVELS IN AUSTRALASIA. Crown +8vo, $1.50. + +DUE NORTH; or, GLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIA AND RUSSIA. Crown 8vo, $ +1.50. + +GENIUS IN SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + +EDGE-TOOLS OF SPEECH. Selected and edited by Mr. BALLOU. 8vo, +$3.50. + +A TREASURY OF THOUGHT. An Encyclopaedia of Quotations. 8vo, full gilt, +$3.50. + +PEARLS OF THOUGHT. 16mo, full gilt, $1.25. + +NOTABLE THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + +HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY, +BOSTON AND NEW YORK. + + + + + THE STORY OF MALTA + + + + + BY + + MATURIN M. BALLOU + + + + + "_This precious stone set in the silver sea_" + + + + + [Illustration] + + + + + BOSTON AND NEW YORK + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY + The Riverside Press, Cambridge + 1893 + + + + + Copyright, 1893, + BY MATURIN M. BALLOU. + + _All rights reserved._ + + + + + _The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._ + Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Perhaps the strongest recommendation for faithful books of travel lies +in the fact that intelligent people consult the best maps while perusing +them, and thus familiarize themselves with important facts in geography. +Such books are especially advantageous to the young, too many of whom +are inclined to neglect this all-important branch of education. Although +Malta appears upon the map as a mere speck, on account of its +superficial area being comparatively so diminutive, yet the patient +reader who is not already familiar with its absorbing story will find +herein a new field of historic and romantic interest, exceeding that +which pertains to any other of the numerous Mediterranean islands. In +all his experience as a traveler, the author has failed to discover any +locality of similar dimensions which embraces so thrilling a history, or +whose present aspect is more attractive and picturesque. Since the +opening of the Suez Canal, it has become the maritime halfway house +between Europe and Asia, which imparts to it vast commercial importance, +and causes it to be visited by many people who, but for the force of +circumstances, would probably never have become conversant with its +singularly beautiful surroundings, or its fascinating capital, the +unique city of Valletta. + +Specialists, students of antiquity, geologists, and lovers of the early +development of art, together with many others, visit Malta to avail +themselves of its rare old library; to view the mouldering monuments of +a commercial people who lived here three thousand years ago; to examine +the peculiar geological strata of the island; to study its quaint +examples of statuary, tapestry, and paintings; to collect skeletons and +bones of extinct races of animals, still to be found in its spacious +caves and beneath the surface of the ground. The average tourist has not +been attracted hither, and little realizes the pleasurable experiences +which await the intelligent and observant visitor. + +While preparing these pages for the press, the author has received a +letter, written by an experienced traveler, from which he quotes as +follows: "The reading of your book entitled 'Due North' promptly sent me +to view the glories of the 'Midnight Sun,' at the North Cape. I thank +you sincerely for the inspiration." Perhaps these pen-pictures of the +Queen of the Mediterranean may influence others in a similar manner. + + M. M. B. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + + Geographical Position of Malta.--A Pivotal Location.--Warden + of the Great Inland Sea.--First Sight of the Group.--How + to reach the Island.--Early Inhabitants.--Language of the + People.--Phoenician Colonists.--Arabian Dynasty.--A Piratical + Rendezvous.--Suez Canal.--Two Sorts of Travelers.--Gibraltar. + --Harbor of Valletta.--A Place of Arms.--Various Bays of the + Group.--Dimensions.--Extensive Commerce of the Port. 1 + + + CHAPTER II. + + Island of Hyperia.--Where St. Paul was Wrecked.--An + Historical Bay.--Rock-Cut Tombs.--Curious and Unique + Antiquities.--Sovereignty of the Knights of St. John.--An + Anomalous Brotherhood.--Sailor-Monks.--Ancient Galleys.--A + Famous Barbary Corsair.--Antique Norwegian Vessel.--Navy of + the Knights.--Barbaric Warfare.--About the Maltese Nobility. + --Romantic History.--"Arabian Nights."--Valletta the Beautiful. 21 + + + CHAPTER III. + + The Maltese Group.--Comino.--Cave Life.--Verdant Gozo.--Isle + of Filfla.--Curious Lizards.--Loss of an Ironclad.--Mysterious + Wheel-Tracks.--Earthquakes.--Population.--Military Depot.-- + Youthful Soldiers.--Quarantine.--Arrival of the Knights.-- + Immorality.--Harbor Defenses.--Land Fortifications.--Charming + Photographic View.--The Stars and Stripes Abroad.--The + Eight-Pointed Maltese Cross.--Peculiar Sunset Scene. 41 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + The Soil of Malta.--Imports and Exports.--Absence of Trees. + --Equable Climate.--Three Crops Annually.--Use of Fertilizers. + --Ignorant and Pious Peasantry.--Food of the People.--Maltese + Women.--Oriental Customs.--Roman Catholic Influence.-- + Improvisation.--Early Marriages.--A Resort for the Pope.--Low + Wages.--Beggars.--Wind Storms.--Blood Oranges.--The Carob-Tree. + --Maltese Lace.--Sailing along the Shore. 64 + + + CHAPTER V. + + The Climate of Malta.--The Furious Gregale.--Liability to + Sunstroke.--The African Sirocco.--Cloudless Days.--A Health + Resort.--English Church.--View of AEtna.--Volcanic Disturbances. + --Will Malta Eventually Disappear?--Native Flora.--Flower-Girls + of Valletta.--Absence of Lakes and Rivers.--The Moon-Flower.-- + Grand Stone Aqueduct.--After the Roman Plan of Building.-- + Fountains.--Results of Irrigation. 86 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + Homer's Fabled Siren.--Singular Topographical Formation in + Gozo.--Beautiful Island Groves.--Fertile Grain-Fields.-- + Flowering Hedges.--Aromatic Honey.--Herds of Goats.--A + Favorite Domestic Product.--Milk Supply.--Prolific Sheep.--A + Maltese Market.--Quail Shooting.--Rabbato, Capital of Gozo. + --The Old Citadel.--Lace Manufacture.--Prehistoric Ruins.--The + Giant's Tower.--Attractive Summer Resort.--Pagan Worship. 101 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + A Maltese Fishing Hamlet.--Old Fort Chambray.--A Grotto shorn + of Poetic Adornment.--The "Azure Window."--Bay of Scilendi.-- + Pirates' Caves.--Prehistoric Bones and Skeletons.--The Vast + Changes of Land and Sea.--Suez Canal.--Geological Matters.-- + Native Race of Arabic Descent.--Curious Stone Mortars.-- + Primitive Artillery.--Maltese Fungus.--Springtime.--Riches of + the Harvest.--Origin of the Island of Gozo. 115 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + Valletta, Capital of Malta.--A Unique City.--Bright Faces, + Flowers, and Sunshine.--Architecture.--L'Isle Adam and La + Vallette, Grand Masters.--Mount Sceberris.--Stone Dwelling-Houses. + --Streets of the Capital.--A Specialty.--Fancy Goods Merchants. + --The Yacht Sunbeam.--Main Street of the City.--A Grand Opera + House.--A St. Giles in Malta.--Strada Santa Lucia.--Street of + Stairs.--Thoroughfares.--The Military Hospital.--Characteristic + Street Scenes.--Emigration. 129 + + + CHAPTER IX. + + Ophthalmia.--Profusion of Flowers.--Inland Villages.--Educational + Matters.--Public Amusements.--Maltese Carnival.--Italian Carnival. + --Under English Rule.--No Direct Taxation.--Code of Laws.--A + Summer Palace.--Governor-General Smyth.--San Antonio Gardens.-- + Wages.--Oranges.--Life's Contrasts.--Swarming Beggars.--Social + Problem.--Churches crowded with Riches.--Starving Population.--A + Mexican Experience. 152 + + + CHAPTER X. + + Broadway of Valletta.--Panoramic Street View.--A Bogus Nobility. + --Former Grand Palace of the Knights.--Telegraphic Station.-- + About Soldier-Priests.--Interior of the Palace.--Ancient + Tapestry.--Old Paintings.--Antique Armory.--An American with a + Fad.--Ancient Battle-Flags.--Armor worn by the Knights.--Days + of the Crusaders.--Bonaparte as a Petty Thief.--There are no + Saints on Earth!--Dueling Ground.--Desecrating Good Friday. 172 + + + CHAPTER XI. + + The Famous Church of St. John.--By What Means it was Decorated. + --Grand Mosaic Floor.--Roman Catholic Ceremonials.--Remarkable + Relics.--Chapels of the Languages.--A Devout Artist.--Church + Treasures.--Thieving French Soldiers.--Poetical Justice.--The + Hateful Inquisition.--Churches of Valletta.--A Forlorn Hope. + --Heroic Conduct.--A Maltese Pantheon.--A Rival Dome to St. + Paul's, London.--Some Fine Paintings. 193 + + + CHAPTER XII. + + Public Library of Malta.--British Museum, London.--City + Circulating Library.--Museum of Valletta.--Interesting + Curiosities.--Birthplace of Hannibal.--Pawnbroker's + Establishment.--Savings Bank of the Monte di Pieta.--The + Baraccas.--A Superb View.--An Excursion Inland.--Ancient + Capital of Malta.--Citta Vecchia.--Toy Railway.--About the + Vatican at Rome.--An Ancient Cathedral.--Dungeons of the + Middle Ages. 214 + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + Ancient Catacombs.--A Subterranean City.--Phoenician Tombs. + --Grotto of St. Paul.--A Crumbling Old Capital.--Dreary and + Deserted.--Bingemma Hills.--Ancient Coins and Antique Utensils. + --Ruins of a Pagan Temple.--A Former Fane to Hercules.--A + Garden of Delights.--Druidical Circles.--Beautiful Grotto.-- + Crude Native Dances.--Unique Musical Instrument.--Nasciar.-- + Suburb of Floriana.--A Capuchin Convent.--Grim Skeletons. 231 + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + The Chivalric Order of St. John.--Humble Beginning of the + Organization.--Hospitallers.--Days of the Crusades.--Motto of + the Brotherhood.--Peter Gerard.--The Monk lost in the Soldier. + --At Acre, Cyprus, and Rhodes.--Naval Operations.--Siege of + Rhodes.--Garden of the Levant.--Piratical Days.--Six Months of + Bloodshed.--Awful Destruction of Human Life.--A Famous Fighting + Knight.--Final Evacuation of Rhodes by the Order. 254 + + + CHAPTER XV. + + Settlement of the Order at Malta.--A Barren Waste.--A New + Era for the Natives.--Foundling Hospitals.--Grand Master + La Vallette.--Sailors and Soldiers.--Capture of Prisoners at + Mondon.--A Slave Story in Brief.--Christian Corsairs!--The + Ottomans attack the Knights in their New Home.--Defeat + of the Turks.--Terrible Slaughter of Human Beings.--Civil + War.--Summary Punishment.--Some Details + of a Famous Siege. 274 + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + Result of the Siege.--Native Women serving as Soldiers.--The + Maltese Militia.--The Knights gain World-Wide Applause.--Rage + of Sultan Solyman.--Agents of the Grand Master become + Incendiaries.--La Vallette, Hero of the Siege.--The Order still + Piratical.--The Turks and Knights Affiliate.--Decadence of the + Chivalric Brotherhood.--Momentary Revival of the Old Spirit. + --Treacherous Surrender.--French Sovereignty.--End of the Order. 297 + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + Conclusion.--A Picture of Sunrise at Malta.--The Upper Baracca + of Valletta.--A Favorite and Sightly Promenade.--Retrospective + Flight of Fancy.--Conflict between the Soldiers of the Cross + and the Crescent.--A Background Wanting.--Historical and + Legendary Malta.--The Secret of Appreciation.--Last View of the + Romantic Group.--Farewell. 314 + + + + +THE STORY OF MALTA. + + +CHAPTER I. + + Geographical Position of Malta.--A Pivotal Location.--Warden + of the Great Inland Sea.--First Sight of the Group.--How to + reach the Island.--Early Inhabitants.--Language of the + People.--Phoenician Colonists.--Arabian Dynasty.--A Piratical + Rendezvous.--Suez Canal.--Two Sorts of Travelers.--Gibraltar. + --Harbor of Valletta.--A Place of Arms.--Various Bays of the + Group.--Dimensions.--Extensive Commerce of the Port. + + +The island of Malta has been known by several significant appellations +during the centuries in which it has claimed a place upon the pages of +history. In our day it is often called the Queen of the Mediterranean, +not only because of its commanding position, dominating, as it were, the +coasts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but also as possessing a degree of +historical and present picturesqueness unsurpassed by any land between +the Columns of Hercules and the coast of Asia Minor. To the north lie +Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica; to the east are Greece, Turkey, and +Syria; and to the southwest is the coast of Barbary; thus forming an +amphitheatre of nations. Malta is therefore a pivotal location about +which vast interests revolve. The loving, patriotic Maltese proudly call +this shadeless island in the middle of the sea, _Fior del Mondo_,--"the +flower of the world." Yet it must be confessed that the downright +ignorance of these natives concerning the rest of the globe is +appalling. To the critical reader of history it is as much classic +ground as Athens or Rome. Situated twenty-five hundred miles from +England, the government fully realizes its importance as an effective +base of naval and military operations, and as an essential outpost for +keeping open the route to India. In fact, Malta is the strongest link in +the chain which connects Great Britain with her possessions in the East. + +During the Crimean war, it was made an English sanitarium for the sick +and wounded who were invalided in that protracted struggle between the +Western powers and Russia. We regarded it, after India, as one of the +most important of the English dependencies. It is in no sense a colony, +but is much more of a military focus than Gibraltar. Naval men consider +Malta to be the warden of that great aqueous expanse, embracing nearly a +million square miles, which separates the continent of Europe from the +northern coast of Africa, the _Magnum Mare_ of the Old World,--a sea +whose memorable shores are thickly strewn with bays and cities, each one +of which teems with historic and poetic interest. It is not the tranquil +and lake-like expanse which it is popularly considered, but is capable +of nearly as fierce commotion as the Atlantic. Another property usually +but incorrectly attributed to the Mediterranean is that it is tideless, +but it actually responds to the same lunar influence that affects the +great waters of both hemispheres. The fact of its being so much warmer +than the open ocean is probably owing in part to the absence of polar +currents. The tide is most noticeable in the Gulf of Venice, where the +rise and fall is from three to four feet. + +The author, while on a journey round the world, was coming from the East +when he first sighted Malta. It was before daylight, early in the spring +of the year. A ship's officer pointed out what appeared like a bright +star on the horizon, but which soon proved to be the clear, far-reaching +fortress-light of St. Elmo, "with strange, unearthly splendor in the +glare." It seemed like the eye of a Cyclops peering through the +darkness, as though one of Vulcan's workmen, fresh from the fiery +furnace beneath Sicilian AEtna, not far away, had come forth to gaze upon +the progress of the night. + +In seeking to reach Malta from Boston or New York, the island would be +approached from the opposite direction. After crossing the Atlantic to +England, the most direct route is by the Peninsular and Oriental +Steamship Line, by way of Marseilles. These vessels depart every +alternate Thursday, and make the passage in eight days, touching at +Gibraltar, forming, perhaps, the most economical route. If a land +journey is preferred, the steamer can be taken at Naples, where the +vessels of this line touch to receive and deliver the regular mails. +This charming Italian city can be reached from London by way of Calais, +Mont Cenis, and Turin. The island, however, is accessible from England +and the continent by many different routes, as the fancy of the traveler +may dictate. + +So much in the way of introduction it seems proper to state for the +information of the general reader. + +Malta holds an important place in the records of history as far back as +three thousand years ago, during which period the island has been +constantly associated with heroic names and startling events, playing a +prominent and tragic part in the mighty drama of the past. The transient +visitor to the group, however well read, fails to remember its vivid +story in detail, and to apply it intelligibly. He is too ardently +stimulated by the unique surroundings, the strange mingling of races, +the Oriental style of the architecture, the curious site of the capital, +and the general glamour of local color impregnating everything, to pause +for comparison or analysis. Like one sitting down to a table teeming +with choice viands, he is at a loss where to begin to appease his +voracious appetite. It is while engaged in quiet afterthought, when +reviewing the experiences gained upon the spot, that the fullness of +interest is aroused, as he turns to the quaint pages of many an ancient +tome, to seek for the story of its earliest inhabitants. We can recall +no other country which has experienced so many and such notable changes +among its rulers, though it requires but little research to discover the +paucity of detailed information concerning its early history, which is +absolutely lost in the mist of ages. + +Three thousand years--this is not looking backward very far, +comparatively speaking. The author has seen objects of Egyptian +production, in the Boolak Museum, on the banks of the Nile, which were +six thousand years old. The Sphinx, standing in its grim loneliness ten +miles from Cairo, is still older, while in the South Sea Islands there +are prehistoric ruins which are believed to antedate the Sphinx. The +probability is that a degree of antiquity applies to this globe so +inconceivably remote that, like stellar distances, the mind can hardly +realize the truth. Professor Agassiz talked confidently in his day of a +million years having been required to bring about the present conditions +of the earth. Since Agassiz's time geologists and scientists generally +do not hesitate to add the plural to million, guided by the light of +modern progress and discovery. + +Such ancient mention of Malta as does exist is crowded with fable, like +the early history of Greece and Rome. An example of this is found in the +popular legend of its having once been inhabited by a cyclopean tribe, a +race of giants, "half human, half divine." These extravagant legends of +poetic history impress us as having, perhaps, some foundation in truth. +It is not falsehood which tradition seeks to perpetuate. Possibility, if +not probability, is required of the wildest romancers. Truth and fable +run in nearly parallel lines. Jules Verne, when he wrote some of his +seemingly extravagant stories, scarcely thought that he was simply +anticipating possible circumstances which would so soon become +realities. The reading world hardly believed that his "Round the World +in Eighty Days" was strictly within the lines of truth; yet that record +has been reduced. + +Malta is known to have been the vassal of ten different nationalities. +What the character of these various dynasties may have been can only be +conjectured. There are no records extant by which we can learn aught in +detail concerning them. A few half-ruined monuments, a series of rock +tombs, the debris of mouldering temples, or a nearly obliterated +underground city, "rich with the spoils of time,"--these are significant +suggestions which the student of the past in vain essays to translate +into coherency. The most casual visitor is moved to thoughtfulness as he +contemplates these half-effaced tokens of a long dead and buried race, +who had no Froissart to hand down their story through the lengthening +vista of ages. First came the Phoenicians, who were here many +centuries before the birth of Christ, and who were the earliest known +colonists of Malta. Their sovereignty is believed to have extended +through a period of seven hundred years. Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, +Goths, and Arabs succeeded each other in the order in which they are +named, followed by German, Spanish, French, and English possessors, the +latter having maintained an uninterrupted mastership since the beginning +of the present century. To a nation whose naval supremacy is its +greatest pride, and which already holds Gibraltar, the key to the +Mediterranean, the holding of Malta is of inestimable importance. With +these facts in view, it is not surprising that its security is so +jealously guarded by England. Perhaps the boastful threat of the first +Napoleon, that he would make of the Mediterranean a French lake, has not +yet been forgotten. At present it is strictly an English dependency, +though surrounded by a score of other nationalities. With the entrance +and exit in her hands, besides holding this unequaled central depot of +arms, no nation could hope successfully to dispute the control of the +Mediterranean with Great Britain. That nationality not only dominates +the great marine highway of the south of Europe, but also the coast of +Asia. + +Malta is situated in the middle of the great highway of commerce between +the East and the West, and is the most southerly land in Europe, on +about the 36th parallel of north latitude, its longitude being 15 deg. +east. The neighboring nations have often and fiercely contested for the +sovereignty of Malta, until its soil has been irrigated by the life-tide +of human beings. How strange the history it presents to us, what ages of +melodramatic vicissitudes, emphasized by the discord of warring cannon +and of dying men! How many and how varied the changes it has known in a +period of thrice ten hundred years! Mutability is written on all things +human, while Time, the remorseless iconoclast, performs the bidding of +Destiny. + +It would naturally be expected that the language of a people who have +had such a peculiar experience as the Maltese should be a conglomerate, +formed from various Asiatic and European tongues. It seems to be a +mixture of Italian and Arabic, mingled with the patois which is common +in the Grecian Archipelago; but English being the current official +language, it prevails among the educated classes, and is also in general +use for business purposes, especially in the retail shops of Valletta, +the capital. The language of Dante, Petrarch, and Ariosto is still +unknown to the common people, though generally understood and spoken in +society. The masses adhere tenaciously to their native dialect, even +after they have emigrated to other countries. In Gibraltar they pick up +just enough of Spanish to make their wants known, as they do in other +Mediterranean ports to which chance has brought them. + +As is often the case in Eastern countries and oceanic islands, Malta is +used both for the name of the island and that of the capital. The one +collective term answers for the entire group; so with the beautiful +island of Ceylon; people do not usually speak of Colombo, its capital, +but of Ceylon, as designating the whole island. Martinique is +sufficiently distinctive as regards that picturesque West Indian island; +St. Pierre and Fort de France, the commercial and political capitals, +are rarely mentioned. Thus Valletta has little significance to the world +at large, while Malta is familiar enough. + +The Phoenicians, the Greeks, and the Romans, each left tangible +evidences of their sovereignty here. The ubiquitous Phoenicians, who +are considered to have been the earliest of the commercial tribes, were +by no means entirely free from the charge of piracy, which seems to have +been almost universal upon this central sea in the earlier and middle +ages. Strange, that sea-robbery should have been one of the active +agencies in the world's advancement! It is said that all progress since +the beginning has been from scaffold to scaffold. In our day no lapse +from honorable commercial methods is so abhorrent to civilized nations, +and no crimes are more severely punished. Next to the Turks and +Algerines, the Greeks were the most reprehensible in this respect,--a +people whose love of "freedom" has become a proverb; a country which has +enjoyed more of American sympathy and material aid than any other, but +whose sons in former times never failed to adopt a corsair life when +opportunity offered. + +There are very few monuments relating to the occupancy of these islands +by the Arabs, who were settled here for more than two centuries. The +most durable memorial of that people is their language, a tongue +unsurpassed in poetic beauty of expression. After the lapse of ten +centuries it is still spoken among the natives, and is held to be +remarkably pure, especially in Gozo, the sister isle of Malta. Though it +is customary to say that the natives speak Arabic, still it can hardly +be a pure tongue; and yet the newly arrived Arabs can understand the +Maltese, proving that the basis of the two languages must be identical. +An educated resident took occasion to prove to the author that here and +there one could select words from the current speech of the common +people, the derivation of which was clearly Phoenician. Residents of +the capital who are engaged in commerce, and many others of +intelligence, speak English, French, and Italian fluently, and most of +them speak the native tongue as well. The facility for acquiring foreign +languages is a national trait. Cultured Maltese are surpassed only in +this respect by educated Russians. + +Italian is the official tongue of the law courts, though English is +gradually superseding it. Why the former language should be persisted +in, it would be difficult to say, though it is the key to all those +common in the Levant. The Maltese are not Italians, and never were. Not +to put too fine a point upon the matter, they are Arabs in their +manners, customs, and language. When the Knights of St. John were +sovereign here, nearly four hundred years ago, there was a certain +degree of consistency in the adoption of Italian as the current or court +language. The intimate relations of the order with the Pope and with +Rome were a predisposing influence which could not but have its effect, +besides which there was the close proximity of the mainland of Italy; +but to continue it as the recognized language of the courts to-day is to +sustain an anomaly. + +More is known of the Arab dynasty than of any of its predecessors. As +soon as this people had gained possession of Malta, they promptly +exterminated the Greeks, putting all the male inhabitants to the sword, +while making slaves of their wives and children. They were careful to +conciliate the native population, even permitting them to worship after +the dictates of their own religious convictions, which is a very rare +concession among Mohammedans, where they have the power to do otherwise. +The Arabs chiefly prized this group of islands for the safe harbors +which it afforded in the pursuit of their one occupation, namely, that +of undisguised piracy. Their constant raids upon the coast of Italy +caused many expeditions to be fitted out from that country for the +purpose of driving them away from their stronghold; but as we have said, +the Arabs maintained their sovereignty here for over two hundred years. +Strong defensive works were erected by them on the present site of Fort +St. Angelo, at the entrance of the harbor of Valletta, on the island of +Gozo, and at the old capital of the group, Citta Vecchia, also known as +Civita Notabile,--"Illustrious City," which appellation, in the days of +its glory, was probably not inappropriate. This old city, near the +middle of the island, was a fortified metropolis centuries before the +Arabs came, its defensive walls being contracted by them so that they +might be the more easily manned and defended. To visit Citta Vecchia +to-day is like the realization of a mediaeval dream. + +A glance at the map will show the reader that the strategic importance +of these Maltese islands is almost unequaled. Lying in the middle of +the vast and famous inland sea,--happily designated as the cradle of +civilization,--within a brief sail of three continents, sixty miles from +the shore of Sicily, one hundred and ninety from the mainland of Italy, +two hundred from the nearest point of Africa, and equidistant from +Constantinople and Marseilles, Valletta has naturally become a popular +port of call, as well as an important coaling station for many lines of +steamships. This is particularly the case with those bound to or from +England and India by way of the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. The opening +of that famous and all-important waterway insured the lasting commercial +prosperity of the Maltese group. From that day to the present its +material growth has been steadily progressing and its population +increasing. It is well known how much the Suez Canal promotes the +commerce of Europe and Asia, but comparatively few people realize that +we have in America a similar means of transportation which is the avenue +of a much larger marine traffic. We refer to the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, +which connects the State of Michigan with the Canadian Province of +Ontario. The aggregate of the tonnage which annually passes through the +American artificial river is shown by government statistics to far +exceed that of the great canal which connects the Red Sea and the +Mediterranean. + +Malta is the halfway station, as it were, of the P. & O. line between +London and Bombay; but there is other regular communication between the +group and England, as well as mail steamships running to Marseilles, +Alexandria, Belgium, Tripoli, and Tunis. Occasionally a single passenger +or a small party of tourists stop at Valletta until the next packet +touches here, enabling them to resume their journey east or west; but it +is rather surprising how few visitors to Malta remain long enough to see +one half of its many objects of interest, while others, who might easily +do so, will not even take the trouble to land. One can sail half round +the globe without finding a locality from which such a store of historic +information and pleasurable memories can be brought away, or whose +present aspect is more inviting. People who have no poetic sense or +delicate appreciation will not find these qualities ready furnished for +them, either at home or abroad. The dull, prosaic individual whose ideas +run only in a practical groove, who lives purely in the commonplace, +will be impressed by travel much after the fashion of the backwoodsman +from Maine, when he saw Niagara Falls for the first time. + +"Great Scott!" said he, gazing approvingly upon the moving aqueous body, +"what a waste of water-power!" + +A somewhat similar scene, of which the author was a witness, is well +remembered. + +"Are you going on shore, madam, while we take in coal?" asked the +captain of a P. & O. steamship, addressing one of his lady passengers, +who was en route from India to England. + +"Can I get me a dear little Maltese dog there for a pet?" asked the lady +in response. + +"It is doubtful," was the answer. "The animals you refer to are now very +scarce in these islands." + +"Then I think I'll remain on board," rejoined madam. "There's nothing on +the island worth seeing, I believe." + +"Some persons come thousands of miles solely to visit the place," was +the captain's quiet reply. "Its history is very curious." + +"Are there any palaces?" + +"There are over half a hundred edifices so called, though they have +nearly all been diverted from their original purpose by the present +government." + +"They have nice old lace here, I am told. But one can get the same thing +in London, you know." + +"Oh, yes, and perhaps you will be able to find a 'puppy' to your liking, +in London," said the sarcastic captain. + +"I think I'll be content with reading about the place," was the final +response of the obtuse passenger. + +As to Gibraltar, that gray old solitary rock lying about a thousand +miles to the westward of the Maltese group, and looming to a height of +fourteen hundred feet, it is a far less attractive place, though among +passengers generally there seems to be a different opinion. Here +travelers usually manage to make a break in their sea voyage, and to +remain a couple of days or more to examine the dreary old fortress and +garrison town. We say it is far less attractive than Malta: as regards +its past or present, it bears no comparison to this group. With the +exception of the old Moorish castle which overlooks the town, there is +not a single edifice in Gibraltar with any pretension to architectural +merit or antiquarian interest. + +The Maltese dog, about which the lady passenger inquired, is a sort of +spaniel with long, silky, slate-colored hair, which hangs down from its +head and body, touching the ground. It has in the past been much +esteemed by royal families as a lapdog, and is of a very ancient breed, +being conspicuous upon old Roman monuments. It is spoken of by the +historian Strabo, but it seems to have almost entirely disappeared in +our time, as the captain remarked. We saw an indifferent specimen +offered for sale in Valletta, for which ten pounds sterling was +demanded. + +The port of Valletta contains two marine docks, capable of receiving +ships of the largest tonnage, and is resorted to by both naval and +commercial shipping for needed repairs, while it is also the +headquarters of the British Mediterranean war fleet. The aggregate +tonnage of vessels entering and clearing is double that of Gibraltar. As +regards social life, and the usual associations of a commercial capital, +Valletta is far and away in advance of the City of the Rock. One comes +quickly to this conclusion upon comparing the commonplace Water-port +Street of Gibraltar with the unique Strada Reale--"King Street"--of +Valletta. The former is like a dull, narrow lane in an English seaport +town, while the latter, full of life and color, resembles a picturesque +boulevard in an Italian or French capital. Each is, however, above all +else a place of arms; everything is and has ever been made subservient +to this idea. + +Malta is more distant from the mainland than any other Mediterranean +island. It is less than twenty miles in length, not quite so large as +the umbrageous Isle of Wight, on the coast of England, though it has +nearly three times as many inhabitants. One often hears that garden of +England compared with Malta, but wherefore, it is impossible to +understand. It would be difficult to imagine a greater contrast than +these two isolated places present. One, embowered in grand old trees and +the rural accessories of a land which nature has delighted to clothe in +verdure; the other, a solitary rock, a convulsive upheaval of the sea, +reclaimed only by patient toil from utter sterility. + +The various natural causes which have operated to reduce Malta to its +present size and shape have been very thoroughly discussed by +scientists, a majority of whom agree that it was once attached to the +continent of Europe or of Africa. Our own humble opinion is that it was +probably the connecting link between them both, some time in the long, +long ages which have passed,--a deduction which will seem more +reasonable to the patient reader as we progress in our narrative. + +The island is of an irregular oval form, having a superficial area of +about one hundred square miles. The Malta of to-day is only a +diminutive, sea-girt, limestone rock, cropping out of the watery depths +to a height, at its culminating point, of between seven and eight +hundred feet, partly covered with a thin though fertile soil. But its +associations are of a character closely bordering upon romance, and +intensely interesting for their antiquity and novelty. The highest point +of the island is at Casal Dingli, on the south side, where, to be +precise, the serrated ridge of the cliffs reaches an elevation of seven +hundred and fifty feet above sea level. There is, however, no such +average height maintained in any part of the group. The southern shore +is of such a bold, inaccessible character as to require few, if any, +fortifications to protect it from possible invasion by an enemy. It +resembles for long reaches the rugged, precipitous coast of Norway, +presenting a line of abrupt, repelling rocks, rising perpendicularly +from out of the sea to an average height of two or three hundred feet. +The face of these abrupt cliffs is accessible only to sea-birds and +creeping reptiles. + +The opposite or northern side of the island is quite different; being +more shelving, and available for landing purposes. It presents numerous +sheltered coves and good harbors for light draught vessels, together +with a great variety of pleasing features peculiar to seaside landscape. +At the southeast end of Malta is the spacious bay and port of Marsa +Scirocco. There is here a good depth of water, and the harbor is +divided, somewhat like that of Valletta, by a promontory or tongue of +land. There is a large fishing village at the head of the bay. Here the +Turks landed an invading army, May 18, 1565, to begin the famous and +sanguinary siege of that date. On June 10, 1798, the French under +General Bonaparte disembarked their troops in the same bay. Northeast of +this place, and half way to Valletta on the coast line, is the small +inlet of Marsa Scala, which is only a shallow bay. The small Sicilian +traders are accustomed to come hither in their light draught boats +rather than to land at Valletta. Still following the northern shore +beyond the admirable double harbor of the capital, we have the lesser +bays of St. Julian, St. George, and Maddalena, besides the larger ones +of St. Paul and Melleha. + +Crossing the narrow Straits of Freghi, we find on the north coast of +Gozo the bays of Ramla and Marsa-el-Forno, while on the south side are +those of Scilendi and Duejra. In this enumeration we have all the bays +and harbors of any importance in the whole Maltese group. Landing on the +southern side of either the larger or the lesser island is for the most +part impracticable, precipitous cliffs rising sheer from the water's +edge in Gozo, as we have described in Malta proper. On these cliffs +incessant breakers chafe and foam upon the black, barren rocks even in +calm weather. Standing on this lonely shore, there is a fascination in +listening to the solemn moan of the restless sea, in whose bosom there +is so much of sadness, of direful secrets, and of unspent power. The +trend of these islands, which form a very compact group, is nearly in a +straight line from southeast to northwest. A bird's-eye view of the +north side of the island of Malta affords glimpses of the blue sea +penetrating the barren and yellow land for short distances, like +Norwegian fjords, and supplying the absence of rivers and lakes as +regards scenic effect, objects which the eye seeks for in vain +throughout this rocky group. + +Few islands, or, indeed, we may say few reaches of seacoast on the +mainland, of similar dimensions, can show so many good and available +harbors as are found on the north shore of Malta. Though the commercial +necessities of the group have not yet caused them to be specially +improved for shipping purposes, yet they will always be available. The +admirable twin harbors of the capital have so far afforded all necessary +facilities, but should the group improve as rapidly in business and +population for the next few years as it has done during the last decade, +another convenient harbor on the north coast will naturally become +developed into a commercial depot, while the construction of a new and +modern city will be sure to follow. + +It is doubtful if there are many persons, even among those who are +engaged in commerce, who realize the large amount of business which the +government statistics already credit to the Maltese group, a commerce +which is annually on the increase. The returns for the year 1891 show +that the imports and exports of Valletta are almost exactly the same in +the aggregate values, each considerably exceeding twenty-two million +pounds sterling. + +The presentation of an important statistical fact will emphasize this +statement. Over six hundred thousand tons of coal are annually imported +for use and for exportation. The arrival and departure of ten large +steamships is a fair daily average, supplemented by one or two sea-going +private yachts. There are few days in the year that the echoes are not +ruthlessly awakened by the interchange of salutes with newly arrived +vessels of war. Altogether, the two harbors of the capital present a +constantly varying scene of great maritime activity, while the town +itself is a picture of gay and varied life, rivaling in this respect +many a continental metropolis far more pretentious, and having thrice +its population. + +As the present possessors of the island of Malta, its story has +doubtless a greater degree of interest for the English than for any +other people. But as regards its relation to the history of the past, +its importance is universal. When it was a Phoenician colony, so long +ago, it was a powerful factor in the political calculations of the +Christian powers; but above all other associations, the island will +always be famous as the place where the glory of the chivalrous Knights +of St. John reached its zenith, and where it also came to its +ignominious end. Of this period the pages of history furnish a fair +amount of truthful detail, but conjecture alone can fill the blank which +precedes the arrival of this remarkable order at Malta. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Island of Hyperia.--Where St. Paul was Wrecked.--An + Historical Bay.--Rock-Cut Tombs.--Curious and Unique + Antiquities.--Sovereignty of the Knights of St. John.--An + Anomalous Brotherhood.--Sailor-Monks.--Ancient Galleys.--A + Famous Barbary Corsair.--Antique Norwegian Vessel.--Navy of + the Knights.--Barbaric Warfare.--About the Maltese Nobility. + --Romantic History.--"Arabian Nights."--Valletta the + Beautiful. + + +Lovers of classic fable will remember that one of the islands of this +group was named Hyperia by Homer, and was the supposed residence of the +mystic nymph Calypso, where she entertained--not to say detained--the +shipwrecked Ulysses by her siren fascinations, when he was on his way +home from Troy. Her grotto, entirely shorn of its poetic adornment, is +exhibited to the curious stranger at Gozo. It was while under the +Phoenician dynasty that Calypso is supposed to have kept Ulysses +prisoner for seven years. Such ingenious allegories impart a certain +local and romantic interest, though they rather obscure than illumine +history. Homer threw a glow of poetic fancy over the localities which he +depicted, while Scott--to present a contrasting instance--gives us +photographic delineations of the times and places to which he introduces +us. In "Kenilworth," for instance, the novelist teaches the average +reader more about the days of Queen Elizabeth than a labored history of +her reign would do, presenting it also in such a form as to fix it +firmly upon the mind. + +It would seem that fable, like history, is bound to repeat itself, since +thousands of years subsequent to Ulysses' shipwreck here, another +disaster of this sort, but of far greater import, took place upon the +group. + +According to Biblical record, St. Paul, when a prisoner, on his way from +Jerusalem to Rome to plead his case before the Emperor Nero, about sixty +years after the beginning of the Christian era, was wrecked in a rocky +bay of Malta which still bears his name,--_La Baia di San Paolo_. It is +situated seven or eight miles northwest from Valletta, and forms a broad +inlet, the entrance to which is nearly two miles wide, running inland +about three miles. It has some twenty fathoms of water at the entrance, +gradually shoaling towards its upper extremity. Seaward, and near the +mouth of the bay, is a small island. The shore is dominated by the Tower +of St. Paul, a square stone structure erected February 10, 1610. The day +indicated is the supposed anniversary of the wreck. Near the tower is a +chapel, in which are some paintings and frescoes, which depict in a +crude manner the catastrophe which occurred to the Apostle. A small +fishing village exists here to-day, as in the time of the famous wreck. +The creek just below the stone church is still the refuge for +fishing-boats when the weather is stormy. + +A dark, threatening, straggling ledge of rocks rises above the surface +of the water some distance from the shore, over which the restless sea +breaks in fleecy clouds of spray. Upon this ledge, after being +tempest-tossed for fourteen days and nights, the bark which bore St. +Paul is supposed to have foundered. + +"They ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained +unmovable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the +waves." On Selmoon Island, just referred to, there is a colossal statue +of St. Paul, which was erected by the devout Maltese some fifty years +ago. The popular reverence for the Apostle's name in this region is very +general, bays, churches, streets, and chapels being designated by it, +while in the inland villages may be found wayside shrines, small outdoor +altars, and springs of delicious drinking-water, dedicated to this +revered name. A grand annual festival takes place on February 10, +commemorative of the shipwreck of the Apostle to the Gentiles,--Paul, +the poor tent-maker of Tarsus. The church of San Paolo, Valletta, in the +street of the same name, is the headquarters of this annual +demonstration, which takes the form of processions, illuminations, and +church ceremonials. This special style of public display is very dear to +the average citizen of Malta. + +It was a little over fourteen hundred years after the event of the wreck +in St. Paul's Bay, which occurred about A. D. 60, that Malta +was deeded by the Emperor Charles V. to the then homeless Knights of +St. John, together with Gozo and Tripoli, a fact which will be more +fully referred to as we progress with our story of the group. + +There has been much ink wasted in controversy as to whether this was +really the island and this the bay where St. Paul met with his maritime +adventure, but it certainly seems to answer every necessary requirement, +and has for several centuries been thus universally designated. The +average visitor feels no doubt that he gazes upon the "certain creek +with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to +thrust in the ship" (Acts xxvii. 39). A fresh northeaster was blowing as +we viewed the scene, driving the waves in gallant style upon the ledge +and shore, while at the same time filling the air with misty spray and +rank sea-odors. The long line of milk-white combers, after expending +their force upon the shore, rushed swiftly back, drawn by a mysterious +undertow towards the deep waters. The noise of the vexed and boisterous +element created a continuous roar, as the waves followed each other in +endless succession. It was the _gregale_, the northeasterly blast so +much dreaded by the fishermen, and which in the olden time, before +navigation was better understood, created such havoc in this midland +sea. It would have been difficult to effect a dry landing, even from a +well-managed boat, with such a troubled sea running. One naturally +remembered "a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon" which the Apostle +encountered, while the imagination was busy in depicting the struggle of +Paul and his companions to reach the shore on broken timbers of the +ship. + +The beach of St. Paul's Bay seems to be composed of the very smallest of +sea-shells, together with some larger ones, which have been mostly +broken and powdered by the endless hammering of the waves. There is a +fine sand, or something which represents it, probably composed of the +powder from the shells. This place is a favorite resort of the people +from Valletta for bathing purposes, but it was not an inviting day when +we stood by the shore, and no bathers were seen. It was very natural for +one to recall the Biblical words, "He maketh the deep to boil like a +pot." + +In this neighborhood there are numerous prehistoric rock-hewn tombs, cut +by ingenious and skilled hands with effective tools. That these are +Phoenician remains, there seems to be little if any doubt. Those +aboriginal colonists were the commercial people of their time, who +settled much earlier at Rhodes, and other islands of the Levant, than +they did at Malta. They planted colonies in Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain. +Carthage was founded by them. Malta afforded a convenient stopping-place +between Carthage and the mother country, and was naturally prized on +that account, having such ample harbors of refuge, and it doubtless +afforded the means of repairing any damages which resulted from storms +at sea. + +Out of the rock-hewn tombs, of which we were speaking, interesting +relics bearing Phoenician characters have been taken from time to +time, such as vases and mural urns, together with articles of domestic +use made from burnt clay, some of which are preserved in the Museum at +Valletta. Other curiosities from the same source are to be seen in the +private collections of English officials, and of wealthy Maltese. Years +of research would not exhaust the interest which the student of the past +must feel in these antiquities. We know of no more fruitful theme or +more promising field, for the historian and the archaeologist, than is +here presented. It is not an untried one, but it is very nearly +inexhaustible, in pursuing which little expense and no hardship is +necessarily encountered. Every facility is freely accorded, both by the +resident population and by the government. + +Some of the best examples of Phoenician inscriptions now to be seen in +the British Museum were brought to light at Bighi, in these islands, +where this ancient people worshiped Juno in a stately temple which stood +on the spot now occupied by the moat of Fort St. Angelo. There are few +parts of the world so varied in antiquarian interests as the islands of +this group. Professor Sayce, the eminent Orientalist of Oxford, England, +tells us that Malta contains Phoenician antiquities of a kind found +nowhere else, and he pronounces the sanctuaries of the Giant's Tower, in +Gozo, together with its companion ruin in the larger island, absolutely +unique. These islands undoubtedly occupied an important position in the +history of those remote days. The few Maltese who have written about +this period dwell with great emphasis upon the glory of Malta while +under Phoenician rule, though they are quite unable to give us any +reliable details of the long ages in which this people held sovereignty +here. + +Within a few years some remains were unearthed which were attributed to +the Goths, but of all the people who have been mentioned, they probably +left fewer evidences of their presence in Malta than did any other race. +After becoming masters of Italy and Sicily, they came hither about +A. D. 506, and held possession of the group for nearly forty +years, until they were expelled by the army of Justinian under +Belisarius. + +The most romantic period of the ever-changing history of this group of +islands, subjected first and last to the control of so many different +nationalities, is undoubtedly that embraced in the two centuries and a +half of the eventful sovereignty of the Knights of St. John,--Knights +Hospitallers, as they were very properly called at first, the most +famous order of mediaeval chivalry, whose name is more familiar to us as +Knights of Malta. The first convent of the founders at Jerusalem was +dedicated to St. John; hence the original name of the order. It was the +earliest systematized charity of the sort concerning which we have any +authentic record. If the true history of this organization could be +written, it would overshadow the most vivid romance. It began in +Palestine during the darkness of the tenth century, when the Saracens +were masters of Jerusalem, and it extends to the verge of the +eighteenth. It is but the outline of important events, which live +through the ages to reach us. The individual is sunk in the mass, and +yet real history is but enlarged biography. The truth of this is shown +in the life of La Vallette, as handed down through three centuries. His +biography gives us a better history of the order of which he was Grand +Master than do writers who attempt it by treating the brotherhood as a +whole. Had the moral character of the Knights of St. John been equal to +their dauntless courage, the order would have formed a worthy example +for all time; but their record shows them and their deeds to have been +of mingled good and evil, the latter quality oftenest predominating. In +the period when their material prosperity was at its height, they were +equally celebrated for wealth, pomp, and vice. While they were boastful +and claimed to be invincible, unlike most braggarts, they were +undeniably brave. Nor was this by any means the only anomaly in the +character of this singular and famous fraternity. Their career +exemplified vice and self-abnegation, hospitality and piracy, the +devoted care of the sick and the slaughter of their fellow-men, in about +equal proportions. These clerical warriors presented a unique phase of +human nature, the outgrowth of a period which, while demanding much +sternness of character to cope with its exigencies, was also peculiarly +amenable to the influence of religious superstition. The brotherhood +owed a large degree of its influence to the cloak of sanctity which it +so boldly assumed, but the humble spirit of which it so unhesitatingly +and persistently outraged. + +The attempt to unite two professions so remote in principles was like +trying to make oil and water mingle. + +The Grand Master, whose authority was absolute, was elected by the +Knights from their own body, and held the office for life. In the choice +of this individual, the order seemed to be almost always influenced by +more than common wisdom, their election being guided by the best +influences and wisest judgment. They realized the proper qualities which +should characterize one placed in this responsible position, and chose +accordingly. They did not seek to elect such a leader as should favor +this or that "language," this or that section of the fraternity, but one +who was endowed with sufficient courage and conscientious piety to rule +over them with impartiality. That there was an element of weakness ever +present among them, emanating from the division into languages, is very +true, and it was this influence which the Grand Master had always to +guard against. National rivalry was inevitable, no matter how much the +fraternity endeavored, as a body, to avoid it. + +The Knights of St. John made the island of Malta the bulwark of +Christendom against the advance of the pale, but bloodstained standard +of the Turks. Even after settling here, which proved to be their final +home, a bitter and murderous conflict was carried on by them with the +Ottoman power, both on sea and land, but especially in their galleons, +until at last, after triumphantly sustaining an unprecedented siege, +during which they actually killed the enemy in the trenches, three times +their own number, the Knights, with ranks seriously thinned, were left +in undisputed possession of these islands. Victory not only crowned +their sanguinary warfare with the Turks, but they also rid the +Mediterranean, at least for a considerable period, of a much-dreaded +scourge, which had so long hampered the commerce of these waters, +namely, the rapacious Greek, Turkish, and Algerine pirates. In the +armory of the Grand Palace at Valletta, there may be seen to-day, among +other trophies taken from the enemy by the Knights, the sword of the +renowned pirate chief, known as Admiral Dragut, who was also Pasha of +Tripoli. The owner of the sword was fatally wounded in the siege of +Malta, before the walls of St. Elmo, in 1565. + +This daring man, entirely wanting in the attribute of mercy, and known +as the most reckless and successful corsair of his day, yet preserved +some chivalrous instincts which were exhibited on occasion. A gallant +saying, which is often attributed to others, was first uttered by him, +if we may believe contemporary authority. It was at the time when the +Turkish forces, with whom Dragut had joined in the attempt to take +Malta, after struggling for months in the vain endeavor to capture the +fort of St. Elmo, were engaged in the last decisive assault. The pirate, +now advanced in years, lay sorely wounded and dying, when he asked the +surgeon, who was by his side, "How goes the battle?" "Our soldiers have +taken the fort and massacred its defenders," was the reply. "Allah be +praised!" gasped the sinking corsair, "then I die content." These were +his last words. Dragut was very humbly born, beginning his profession as +a common seaman, at the lowest round of the ladder, that is, as cabin +boy. His fortune was a strangely varied one, now a galley slave, now a +soldier in the Sultan's service, now a pilot on the sea, and now a +daring pirate, working his way upward by patient determination, until +finally he stood as master upon the deck of his own galley, and was the +terror of these seas. It was not long before he became admiral of the +entire Turkish navy. Dragut had pursued his piratical and warlike career +for nearly half a century. He possessed executive qualities which fitted +him to act both as an admiral and as a general, a large share of his +victories having been achieved upon the land. He had agreed with the +Sultan of Turkey to join forces with him in the attack upon Malta, but +was delayed for a few days, so the Sultan's commander began the siege +without him. Mustafa Pasha made a bad piece of business of it, and did +not open his attack with true soldierly skill. When Dragut arrived, +important changes were promptly made, and it was while directing these +movements that the famous corsair received his death wound. + +We have seen that the organization of St. John did not confine itself +to warfare upon the land; many of the order were trained seamen, and +were always ready to take the aggressive in marine enterprises when +occasion offered. The strict vows of the brotherhood compelled the +members to wage ceaseless warfare against the infidels. This was the +most clearly defined and determined of their purposes, in the +prosecution of which they adhered tenaciously to the last. In these sea +fights their well-known courage, superior weapons, and persistency +nearly always insured success. Their galleys, well equipped for that +period, were held in readiness for service, moored in the land-locked +creeks of Grand Harbor. These were efficient vessels for the immediate +service they were designed to serve. They were over one hundred feet in +length and twenty-five wide, being propelled by oars or sails, according +to the wind. The sails were not designed for use unless the wind was +aft, as the art of tacking and sailing to windward was not then +practiced. Fifty oars, that is, twenty-five on a side, was a common +arrangement, and there were from three to six galley slaves at each oar, +according to the size of the vessel. These men were chained in their +places, and if they did not work to the satisfaction of the boatswain, +the lash fell without mercy upon their bare backs. A galley was rigged +with two masts, upon each of which a large square sail was hoisted. When +the oars were in use, these sails were clewed up. Several cannon were +fitted to each side, and one was designed to fire from the stern; but +when in action, the usual plan was to ram the enemy's craft, and thus +disable him, or, by boarding, to effect a capture in a hand-to-hand +fight. The half-naked, half-starved slaves often dropped dead at the +oars, and were ruthlessly cast into the sea. No more cruel punishment +could be inflicted upon a criminal than to condemn him to the life of an +oarsman in the galleys. + +There is probably no more striking and significant example of the +material progress of the times than that afforded by contrasting the +iron-clad warship of to-day with a fighting caravel of the period of +which we are speaking. + +Contrary to what might reasonably be supposed, the people who lived upon +the shores of the Mediterranean did not build vessels which were at all +comparable in general excellence with those constructed by the Northmen +at the same period. The galleons used by the Greeks, Turks, and +Algerines, as well as by the Knights of St. John, were awkward and +unwieldy; their hulls represented no true lines of nautical beauty or +usefulness. They were not seaworthy, as the term is usually applied. +When the weather was severe, the vessel was always anchored under the +lee of the nearest land, or was put into some sheltered bay. These +vessels carried far too much top hamper, and exposed too much surface to +the wind, to be safe when a storm raged. Their free board was enormous, +compared with their draught. The author has seen at Christiania, in +Sweden, the hull of an ancient war craft which was dug out of the clayey +soil of the country, where it had been preserved for centuries, that +antedated these galleons used by the Knights at Rhodes and at Malta, it +having been built at least nine hundred years ago. Its lines and +construction combined three important qualities, storage capacity, +buoyancy, and speed, and it was intended to lie low in the water, thus +presenting but small surface to a storm on the ocean. Not one of these +characteristics could be claimed for the galleys of this inland sea. The +latter were crude, top-heavy, with high-curved poop and stern, and +designed only for fair weather service, while the northern-made craft +could ride out the fiercest storm in safety when properly managed, and +were built for open ocean navigation. In fact, this model, still to be +seen at the Museum in Christiania, is such as bore the Northmen across +the Atlantic to our shores, centuries before the time of Columbus, whose +discoveries we commemorate. The naval branch of the Order of St. John +was originated soon after their expulsion from Jerusalem, and was +rapidly developed while they occupied the island of Rhodes, but it did +not reach its highest efficiency until after their settlement at Malta, +where the situation of the island and its extraordinary harbor +facilities particularly favored maritime enterprise. There they built +many armed galleys, though all the material which entered into their +construction was necessarily imported. There was no available wood to be +found upon the island, except that which was brought from the mainland +of Italy. A people entirely surrounded by water naturally came to be +good boat and ship builders, and the galleons produced during the +sovereignty of the Knights showed great improvement, and were famous for +their staunch character compared with those of their neighbors. These +vessels, however, would be considered nothing less than marine +monstrosities in our day. + +The galleys of the Knights did not remain long idle. When a restless +spirit moved their owners, they promptly set sail for the coast of +Barbary, where, surprising some unprotected settlement, they burned the +place to the ground, enslaving those whose lives they spared. If there +were any high officials among their prisoners, or persons of special +importance, such were held for ransom. If the payment demanded for their +release did not come promptly, they too became common slaves and worked +with the rest at the trying galley oars. This service, if they were not +in good health and strength, soon put an end to their lives. Such were +the deeds of professed Christians, who, in their ignorant and bigoted +zeal, actually seem to have thought themselves to be serving God by +robbing, destroying, and enslaving those whom they called infidels. In +the light which comes to us through the long ages, we can see another +and baser motive which must have actuated these monkish freebooters, +namely, the desire for plunder and to kill, "an appetite which grows by +what it feeds upon." Though they tempered their piratical career with +deeds of chivalry and the outward forms of religious devotion, they +were none the less blood-seeking corsairs. The red flag would have been +more appropriate at the masthead of their vessels than the eight-pointed +cross of St. John. The spirit which had originally given birth to the +order--then well named Hospitallers--had long since been lost sight of. +In Jerusalem, Turk and Pilgrim alike shared their hospitality, and their +model was that of the Good Samaritan. Alas, for the degeneracy that +followed! + +The conflict as carried on for centuries by both the Christians and the +Mohammedans was equally characterized by diabolical cruelty, while +tinctured by a spirit of blind fanaticism and religious frenzy. On the +part of the Turks this was a genuine instinct, since they could not +expect, even in the event of victory, to realize anything by way of +remunerative plunder. In regard to the Knights, everything goes to show, +as we have already declared, that religion was used as a convenient +cloak to cover up their questionable purposes. The candid student of +history will, however, honestly admit that there were many and striking +exceptions to this rule. Some of the Grand Masters were undoubtedly +sincere, though they were grossly bigoted. Of this, L'Isle Adam and La +Vallette are striking examples. + +Each fresh onslaught between the contending Christians and infidels led +to increased bitterness and a desire for revenge. The terrible courage +and indifference to death evinced by the followers of the crescent were +more than matched by the cool, determined bravery of those who fought +under the banner of the cross. Let the truth be frankly recorded. If the +Turks were guilty of the most barbaric atrocities, and we very well know +that they were, the Knights of St. John were not slow to retaliate in +kind. History tells us that the latter, at the siege of Malta in 1565, +not only decapitated their defenseless prisoners of war upon the +ramparts of the forts, in full sight of the enemy, but afterwards fired +their ghastly heads from mortars, and projected them by other means into +the camp of the besieging army. Alas, for the brutality of warfare, +ancient and modern! Who can forget that English officers professing to +be Christians, during the unsuccessful attempt of the natives of India +to regain their freedom, lashed their living prisoners of war to the +cannon's mouth, and applying the match, blew them into eternity? This +diabolical act, it should be remembered, was perpetrated not by +irresponsible guerrillas, or lawless banditti, but by regular English +army officers, in the nineteenth century. Wild African tribes, the +Maoris of New Zealand, or the cannibals of Fiji could do no worse, while +England poses as representing the highest degree of modern civilization +and refinement. All war involves a greater or less lapse into barbarism. +It was the first Napoleon who uttered the significant saying, born of +his own experience, "The worse the man, the better the soldier!" + +But let us endeavor not to diverge too far from the immediate purpose of +these pages. + +We were speaking of the peculiar order of the Knights of St. John. The +natives of Malta furnished no members to the ranks of the brotherhood. +They might and did serve effectively as men at arms, and joined in +defensive and offensive warfare as common soldiers. A certain +exclusiveness was always maintained by the fraternity as to admitting +individuals to full membership, it being realized from the outset that +an indiscriminate policy in this respect would tend to belittle the +order and weaken its influence, as well as to introduce an undesirable +element into its ranks. Hundreds of the Maltese were paid auxiliaries of +the different "languages" of the order, and others were volunteers in +fighting for the sacredness of their homes when the Turks invaded the +island. This they did in large numbers during the last memorable siege, +but they were in no sense Knights of St. John. The order proper was +exclusively composed of Europeans, who, before admission to the first +rank of the brotherhood, were obliged to produce indisputable proofs of +nobility of birth, to a degree which varied according to the custom of +the nationality whence they came. + +The Grand Masters created a certain rank of nobility among the Maltese, +which was conferred upon individuals for extraordinary considerations, +and for valuable services rendered in behalf of the order, but it is +difficult to discover the advantage of the titles thus bestowed. The +persons thus complimented were not eligible for admission to the +brotherhood, nor was any pecuniary compensation attached. Their +descendants to-day, though they are quite impoverished, are more +tenacious of these empty titles than ever before. The presumption +founded thereon is simply ludicrous to an American. The French, during +their brief sovereignty of the island, abolished by special edict all +titles, but this amounted to nothing, and was soon forgotten. As these +meaningless distinctions descend indiscriminately to all male members of +the family whose progenitor was thus endowed, the prospect is that +titled people will by and by become as plenty here as Maltese oranges, +or the "Legion of Honor" in France. + +Remembering the marvelous history of the Knights and their often tragic +taking off, while we stroll through the palace-lined streets of the +capital in the still hours of the night, when the moon throws pale, +suggestive shadows across the squares and street corners presided over +by effigies of saints, one can easily imagine the ghostly, armor-clad +figure of a dead Knight, like Hamlet's father, revisiting its earthly +haunts. If these defunct soldier-monks did not leave ghosts behind them, +the power of such spirits after death must be effete. Every turn and +each surrounding in Valletta, whether in the department of arms or of +art, speaks of the vigorous doings of these many-sided knightly friars. + +It was the Grand Master Jean de La Vallette, who founded the charming +capital of Malta, after his murderous but successful repulse of the +infidels in their last attempt to capture the island. Though Vallette +did not live long enough to see it reared to its present attractive +completeness, still the stamp of his genius, as shown in the grandeur of +its architecture, its palaces, churches, hospitals, and fortifications, +is his most lasting and appropriate monument. So rapidly did the +building of the new city progress after it was begun, that it is said to +have been practically completed in six years. To accomplish this, +hundreds of able mechanics and skilled artisans were brought from Italy +and other parts of Europe. If these stones, whose surfaces three +centuries have so wrinkled with age, could but speak, what interesting +facts might be revealed by them to illumine this period of the world's +history! We have famous telescopes which enable us to search out the +characteristics of far-away Mars. Would we could turn one of these giant +lenses upon the olden days in Malta, and obtain a tableau of its history +with photographic fidelity! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + The Maltese Group.--Comino.--Cave Life.--Verdant Gozo.--Isle + of Filfla.--Curious Lizards.--Loss of an Ironclad.--Mysterious + Wheel-Tracks.--Earthquakes.--Population.--Military Depot.-- + Youthful Soldiers.--Quarantine.--Arrival of the Knights.-- + Immorality.--Harbor Defenses.--Land Fortifications.--Charming + Photographic View.--The Stars and Stripes Abroad.--The Eight- + Pointed Maltese Cross.--Peculiar Sunset Scene. + + +We speak of Malta in the singular, which is the conventional form; +official documents say Malta and its dependencies, it being the name +which is also most commonly used to designate the capital; but it should +be understood that the Maltese group consists of three considerable +islands, namely, Malta, Gozo, and Comino. The latter lies midway in the +channel which separates the other two. Comino is nearly circular, +measures four miles across its surface, and contains some large and +curious caves, also a fort which was built in 1618. There are a few huts +in which the poor peasants reside, who labor on the soil, and send +fabulous numbers of watermelons to Valletta. It would seem that this +circumscribed bit of earth, or, more properly speaking, rock, breaking +the surface of the Straits of Freghi, was formerly considered to be of +more importance than it is in our day. One ancient author mentions it +under another name, that of Hephaestia, which means the island of Vulcan. +In the Middle Ages Comino was a very nest of Saracen pirates. Up to the +beginning of the present century, the special advantage of the group for +the promotion of illegitimate commerce has been its curse. Malta was the +synonym of piracy from the earliest times,--a reputation which, as we +have seen, the Knights of St. John did nothing to improve. Speaking in +plain terms, they were the most pronounced and successful corsairs who +ever sailed these waters, and were unmolested by the Western Powers +because their piracy was conducted under the pretense of fighting only +the infidels, and in behalf of Christianity. In our day we invade +Central Africa under pretense of suppressing the slave trade; but in the +days of this warlike order, its principal source of income was derived +from the capture of Asiatics, whom the Knights sold into slavery, or +retained in that condition. + +There is said to be ample evidence that the numerous caves of Comino +were formerly improved as domestic dwelling-places by the primitive +inhabitants. Their partial inaccessibility probably caused them to be +used as safe retreats when the group was invaded by a foreign enemy. +Where natural caves existed in the early days of our race upon this +earth, they were nearly always utilized as shelter for human beings, and +doubtless artificial ones were created, it being the readiest mode of +obtaining a domestic shelter. The Spanish gipsies of Granada follow this +plan even to-day, on the banks of the swift-flowing Darro, not to speak +in detail of the numerous cliff-dwellers of Behring Strait, where Asia +and America come so nearly together. + +There is a cave between Comino and Cominetto, the entrance to which is +accomplished by boat, not without considerable difficulty. When once +within, however, and the eyes become accustomed to the gloom which +pervades the place, the cave is found to open out into proportions of +considerable magnitude. At the further extremity nature has formed a +beautiful little gravelly beach, on which the lazy waves ebb and flow +gracefully and softly. Geologists visit this cavern with much interest, +as the sides teem with the remains of marine creatures which lived and +died in the waters when these islands were gradually undergoing the +process of formation. There are scores of smaller caves on Cominetto, +and also on Comino. It was in the cavernous formations of the south side +of the main island of the Maltese group that Dr. Adams found the +interesting animal remains about which he has written so ably. These +tokens of past ages, concerning which we have no other record, exist in +nearly all parts of the globe. In the Ozark Mountains, near Galena, +Missouri, is a cavern larger than the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, which +has been explored for thirty miles in a nearly straight line. In this +Missouri cave, bones of prehistoric animals have also been found. + +It may be said truthfully that there are few places which surpass Malta +in antiquarian interest. + +Gozo is about one fifth the size of the main island which gives the +group its name. The circumference of the three islands is a trifle less +than one hundred miles. The shores, much worn and still wearing away by +the ceaseless action of the waters, give evidence of having been +considerably more extended at no distant period of time. Two uninhabited +islets, besides Gozo and Malta proper, complete the list of the group; +these are Cominetto and Filfla. The first, as its name indicates, nearly +joins Comino; the latter, containing the ruins of an ancient stone +church, is situated three or four miles from Malta on its southern side. +It is a very small islet, being only six hundred yards in circumference. +Filfla, from the Arabic word _filfel_, means a peppercorn, and the place +is thus called on account of its diminutive size. The name of each +inlet, headland, and reef along the coast is Arabic. + +Besides the islands which we have cited, there are some small rocks, +having sufficient soil upon them to afford a gleam of animal and +vegetable life, but which are rarely if ever trodden by the foot of man. +Sometimes the hardy fishermen spread their nets from the most available; +but this work is generally pursued from boats and at points further from +land. There are certain species of shell-fish, including the patella, +lobsters, and crabs, which so abound on the circumscribed shore of +anvil-shaped Filfla, that fishermen come hither regularly to obtain +them. The phosphorescent jelly-fish, that glow-worm of the sea, lies +upon the surface near the shore in shoals, with here and there a blue +and rose-tinted starfish. The stormy petrel, the manx, and the white +sea-gulls build their nests amid the rocks of Filfla. The gathering of +coral was formerly a successful business hereabouts, but it is now +abandoned as not being sufficiently profitable. Oysters are also found +near the shore, and form a considerable source of food supply for the +common people; but the Mediterranean oyster does not recommend itself to +one accustomed to the superior product in the same line found on the +American coast. This bivalve of the narrow sea is often transported in +considerable quantities inland to Rome, where it does not always prove +harmless to strangers, though the digestive organs of the natives seem +quite able to grapple with it. The author was once seriously poisoned by +eating "oysters on the shell," at Nazzari's famous restaurant, near the +corner of the Via Condotti, in Rome. + +As regards this island of Filfla, it gives us a wealth in numbers and an +astonishing variety of forms representing marine life, including sea +anemones, sea urchins, and so on, together with some small shells almost +as lovely as flowers. Men-of-war cruising in these waters use the island +as a target, and fragments of shot and shell consequently abound upon +its surface. Naturalists tell us of a peculiar species of lizard found +on this islet, quite different from anything of the sort to be seen on +the larger islands, "beautiful bronze-black creatures, quite tame, and +much more agile than their brethren on the mainland." So off the harbor +of Bombay, the author has seen on the island of Elephanta remarkable +beetles, unlike any of the species to be found elsewhere. They are +scarcely larger than one's little-finger nail, but nature has clothed +them in harlequin attire, combining golden, steel-blue, and pink. These +tiny creatures have prominent eyes, like a King Charles spaniel, which +seem to gaze at one with something like human intelligence. The question +naturally suggests itself, where can a distinctive species of animal +life have been derived and developed after this fashion, in these +isolated spots? Is this the outcome of some not understood principle of +evolution, beginning as vegetable, and developing into animal life? That +the earth produces the former spontaneously we know, and that it may +gradually, in the course of ages, become endowed with the latter has +been declared possible by scientists. In our museums we see fossil +organisms which exhibit in nearly consecutive order the slow evolution +of both animals and plants. By this means palaeontologists have been able +to connect some of our present mammals, through intermediary forms, with +their tertiary ancestors in primitive conditions. + +Leaving the field of conjecture to scientists, let us resume the course +of our Maltese story. + +It is believed that at a comparatively modern date, geologically +speaking, the islands of Malta and Gozo were joined together by the +island of Comino. Deep wheel-ruts worn in the rocky surface on the +opposite shores of the two nearest islands, visible even at some +distance under the water, afford what is considered to be unmistakable +evidence that the intervening straits have been formed recently, or that +the sea was once so shallow here as to be easily fordable by wheeled +vehicles. These wheel-tracks are particularly observable at Marfa, +whence passengers take boat for Gozo, but they are also found in other +places, where the connection is wholly obliterated. On the edge of the +shore, to the north of the Bay of Fom-er-Rich, wheel-ruts are to be seen +terminating abruptly at the brink of a cliff one hundred feet high, +which rises sheer from out of the sea. This shows clearly that some +tremendous upheaval, subsidence, or both, must have taken place here +within historic times. + +Though the Straits of Freghi are now many fathoms deep, navigation is +somewhat intricate. A first-class British iron-clad was wrecked here in +1889, by striking upon a sunken rock. In very stormy weather +communication between the islands is wholly cut off, but this rarely +occurs. The shore in this vicinity is fringed by long, black, straggling +ledges, the most dangerous portions of which are exposed only in stormy +weather, when the dark, sea-worn rocks raise their heads and stoutly +resist the onslaught of the waves, sending aloft transparent masses of +white spray. When the sun escapes from the clouds and penetrates this +watery ebullition, momentary rainbows bind the moistened atmosphere +together with a lovely arch of prismatic hues. + +Careful soundings show that the Maltese group stands upon a submarine +plateau, which stretches entirely across the Mediterranean from Sicily +to Africa, thus dividing the sea into two parts, known to geographers as +the eastern and western basins. + +Malta, so far as an unscientific person may speak, shows no signs of +volcanic action, though there is a powerful agent of this character so +near in Sicily. At the present writing AEtna is in a condition of wild +physical turmoil, forming new fissures near its summit, out of which the +much-dreaded fiery lava is flowing rapidly, while the main crater is by +no means idle. Nothing can stem the tide of these rushing rivers of +molten rock, which have cut themselves fresh channels for miles, +extending to the sea. The last outbreak occurred in the early part of +1865, continuing with more or less force for a period of three months. +In 1669, one of these eruptions, besides costing hundreds of human +lives, destroyed twenty-two towns and villages, on its mad course to the +seaport of Catania, where the lava rushed into the Mediterranean in a +stream eighteen hundred feet in width and forty feet in height! This +extraordinary statement is in accordance with the local chronicles of +the time. It was perhaps the most violent and destructive eruption of +which we have any record; many have been slight and harmless. This +latter fact accounts for the hardihood of the Sicilians in continuing to +plant vineyards and farms within reach of this great subterranean +furnace. So the people of Torre del Greco, at the foot of restless +Vesuvius, ignore past experience, and all former outbreaks of the +mountain which destroyed Pompeii. + +In the absence of late and reliable statistics upon the subject, the +present population of the Maltese group may be safely assumed as about a +hundred and seventy-five thousand, of which number one half centre in +and about Valletta. Borgo, Senglea, and Burmulo, on the opposite side of +the harbor, eastward from the capital, are populous suburbs of the city, +and contain many well-built stone edifices, but none to compare with +those of the city proper. These suburbs are the residence of an humbler +class of the community than those who live in Valletta. The estimate +which is given above as to the population of the group includes the +English garrison, which seldom amounts to less than six thousand men. A +brigade of infantry is always kept here upon a war footing, known as the +"Indian Contingent." The whole number of troops at the present time, in +and about the capital, is eight thousand of all arms. In case of another +Indian mutiny, which would surely follow an invasion by Russia, England +could draw at once from this source. The troops at Malta would be +already half way toward their objective point, if ordered to Calcutta or +Bombay. + +Her Majesty's government also maintains an infantry regiment one +thousand strong, whose ranks are filled by natives of the islands, a +policy which is also adopted to a large extent in India, and more or +less in all English dependencies. Even in Hong Kong, the large body of +men who constitute the local police are Sikhs brought from India for +this special service. They are tall, dark, fine-looking men, with heavy +beards. The Maltese regiment just spoken of is a good-looking body of +well-drilled men, though lacking the _esprit de corps_ of English-born +soldiers. This regiment is officered by Englishmen, and is called the +Royal Maltese Fencibles, being mostly employed to man the outlying forts +of the group. + +We may be permitted a few words upon the subject of the garrison of +Malta. One watches with special interest the soldiery of various +nationalities. The author has seen the representatives of the English +army in Egypt, China, Ceylon, Aden, and in all of the colonies of Great +Britain except those of Africa. The men are, on an average, far too +youthful for military service. Such boyish applicants would not pass +examination for enlistment in our American army as we find enrolled in +the English regiments here. Large numbers are under seventeen years. +Even Lord Wolseley, in a late published report, admits this glaring +defect of the British service. In round numbers, the English army +consists of two hundred and ten thousand men of all arms, half of which +number is kept at home, that is, in England, while over seventy thousand +are stationed in India, and thirty-two thousand in various colonies. The +empire of India is an expensive plaything, which the people of Great +Britain support for the amusement of the Queen and the pride of the +nation. The seventy thousand soldiers distributed over that widespread +territory are hardly able to keep the natives in subjection. To +maintain her grasp upon India, as we all know, has cost England rivers +of blood and mountains of treasure, though she has no more legitimate +right to possess the land than she has to Norway and Sweden. + +Sweeping pestilence and frequent wars have not seemed to interfere +materially with the rapid increase of the population of Malta. +Visitations of the cholera and the plague have at different times +created great havoc with human life in the group. So late as 1813, +thousands of the inhabitants fell victims to the much-dreaded plague, +brought hither from the East, where the seeds of the scourge seem to be +only slumbering when they are not bringing forth fatal fruit. The local +records of the devastation of the plague in Malta are terribly forlorn, +dreary, and saddening, and characterized by the calmness and dignity of +despair. Since that experience, strict quarantine measures have been +enforced, especially toward vessels coming from Egypt. Many travelers +who have visited this group of islands have been obliged to pass a +fortnight or more in the lazaretto before being permitted to land in the +capital, while others, rather than submit to the trying discipline of +quarantine, have given up their purpose of doing so. + +Untraveled readers can hardly realize the discomforts and annoyances +caused by quarantine laws, against the necessity of which no intelligent +person will attempt to argue. Late experience upon our own coast, +especially in New York harbor, proves not only their importance, but +also their efficacy, though they sometimes, in individual cases, operate +with seemingly unnecessary hardship. Sir Walter Scott, in describing his +detention at the lazaretto in Malta, tells us of an accident which +occurred, illustrating the rigid enforcement of quarantine rules. It +seems that a foremast hand on board the ship which had brought him +hither fell from the yardarm into the sea. The fellow struggled +manfully, being a good swimmer. Several native boats, which were near at +hand, promptly steered in another direction, but an English boat's crew, +belonging to a ship in the harbor, pulled as swiftly as possible towards +the struggling seaman and rescued him from the water. For this act of +humanity, the boat's crew was ordered into quarantine for a week. By +saving the life of the sailor who had fallen from the ship which was in +quarantine, they had run the risk of contamination! + +On one occasion, while in South America, it was the author's misfortune +to be at Rio Janeiro when the yellow fever was raging there. He was +bound southward to Montevideo, but no ship going thither would receive +passengers, lest the vessel should be quarantined. Passage was therefore +taken northward to Bahia, Brazil, which was not a prohibited port, +though yellow fever was found to exist there, also. Thence the Pacific +Mail Steamship took us south again to the mouth of the Plate +River,--_Rio de la Plata_,--passing, but not entering, the harbor of +Rio. Thus one was compelled to travel by sea over two thousand miles +for no possible purpose save to avoid being quarantined at Montevideo. + +The cholera swept away several thousands of the Maltese in 1837, again +in 1853, and once more so late as 1887. It will be observed that there +exists a serious drawback in the location of the group. It is so +situated, midway between the East and the West, as to be the victim of +all such epidemics as are liable to be conveyed through the ordinary +channels of commerce. + +When the Knights of St. John first landed in Malta there were but twelve +thousand inhabitants here. The Knights were soon followed by a +considerable number of their former subjects in Rhodes, many of whom +had, like themselves, been wanderers since they were driven from that +island by the Turks. The order was still popular and wealthy, enjoying a +princely revenue from various continental sources, as well as from the +rich prizes which they constantly captured from the Ottomans, from +roving Greeks, and from Barbary pirates. The proceeds of these captures +were expended with a lavish hand among the Maltese people, diffusing +plenty and comfort throughout the islands. This material prosperity soon +stimulated immigration from various Mediterranean ports, and called home +many who had endeavored to improve their fortunes by seeking occupation +elsewhere. The natives were treated with great liberality by their +monkish rulers. No taxes were demanded of them, while they were in +constant receipt of money from the plethoric treasury of the Knights. +There was occupation for all, and fair remuneration for the same. Never +before, as far as we know, had the sunshine of prosperity so smiled upon +these isolated shores. The period to which we refer is regarded as the +golden age of Maltese history. The most intelligent of the present +inhabitants are never tired of referring to the period when the white +cross of St. John floated proudly over the castle of St. Elmo. + +It was indeed the golden age, speaking in a worldly sense, but not in a +spiritual one; yet the average Maltese not only sympathizes with the +profession of these Knights, but even indorses their daily lives, public +and private, which would not bear for one moment the conventional test +of our modern civilization. It would seem as though the virtue and honor +of Maltese wives and daughters counted for nothing, in this wholesale +opinion of the period covered by the sovereignty of the order, and that +the natives of that day ignored all sense of self-respect in their +estimate of the value of pecuniary prosperity as compared with the +sacredness of domestic purity. Women were bartered for like merchandise; +personal attractions formed the criterion of their market value, while +there was not even the pretense on the part of the Knights of keeping +their priestly vows as celibates, by which every member of the +fraternity of St. John was supposed to be bound. Women came voluntarily +and openly from Italy, France, Spain, and England to trade upon their +charms, added to whose number were those of their sex captured from the +harems of the Mohammedans. Among the native women, little regard was +paid to marital ties, and virtue among them was scarcely a recognized +idea. We may be sure that the vile example set before them by those to +whom they were taught to look up as their superiors was not without its +evil influence. Lewdness is as contagious as typhus fever, and vice +spreads like oil upon the water. We penetrate uncivilized countries and +affiliate with barbaric tribes, who, following some strange instinct of +the race, promptly adopt our vices, but are slow to imitate such of the +virtues as we assume, if we have them not. It is not pleasant to dwell +upon such a theme, but contemporary writers tell us that these islands +became the scandal of Europe, and the popular resort of titled +libertines, many of whom joined the Knights, who were then at the height +of their material prosperity. + +Let us draw the curtain upon such matters, which have necessarily been +considered, and turn to such as are more attractive. Of these we shall +find a teeming abundance from which to choose in this _Fior del Mondo_. + +The charmingly picturesque capital, Valletta, surrounded at all times by +a quaint Oriental atmosphere, lies on the north shore of the island, at +its nearest point to Sicily, upon a promontory extending a considerable +distance into the bay. For the sake of completeness, its exact position +is given: longitude 14 deg. 31'; latitude 35 deg. 53' north. The port +consists of two spacious land-locked bays, known as Quarantine Harbor +and Grand Harbor. The entrance to both is commanded by the massive white +battlements of Fort St. Elmo, supplemented by Fort Ricasoli on the one +hand, and Fort Tigne on the other. Each of the three fortifications now +bristles with threatening cannon of modern construction,--"the +red-mouthed orators of war." The two harbors, forming a double port, are +each subdivided into small bays, creeks, and indentures, which are well +adapted to naval and commercial purposes, for which they are improved, +all being embraced within the elaborate lines of the marine +fortifications. + +Grand Harbor contains the naval hospital, arsenal, dock-yard, and +custom-house, with Fort St. Angelo inside and Fort Ricasoli at the +entrance. Quarantine Harbor has at its mouth Fort Tigne, while within is +Fort Mangel and Lazaretto Island. The landing designed for the mail +steamships is also here. The lazaretto is the most perfect of any +arrangement of the kind in Europe. The tongue of land upon which the +city stands is a narrow, rocky peninsula, dividing, as we have said, the +two harbors, so that Fort Ricasoli at the entrance of Grand Harbor, Fort +St. Elmo upon the point of the peninsula, and Fort Tigne at the mouth of +Quarantine Harbor are all on a line at the sea front, and are capable of +repelling the approach of any ship afloat. A bird's-eye view of the +topography of the port of Valletta is at first a little confusing to a +stranger, but its plan soon becomes clear, and the object of its +arrangement is realized. It is then seen that the natural facilities +have been admirably adapted to the general purpose by skilled engineers. +We do not hesitate to say that there is not a more complete system of +fortifications extant, in any part of the world, than the cordon of +defensive structures at Malta. The forts of the harbor, however, form +but a portion of the vast system of fortifications which completely +surround Valletta. Such a gigantic amount of heavy stone-work as they +represent could only be erected where the material was abundant and the +labor cheap. The stone excavated in sinking the deep ditches was used in +raising the escarps; and as to the necessary labor, that was done by the +army of slaves retained on the island by the Knights. When they were not +confined at the oars of the galleys, they were compelled to labor in +erecting these elaborate defenses. Like the Egyptian builders of the +Pyramids, the order was obliged to feed these workmen; but beyond that +expense their services cost nothing. + +While the Maltese capital bears, appropriately, the name of the Grand +Master who originated and promoted its construction, these defensive +works, so remarkable and so perfect in their character from a soldier's +point of view, should perpetuate the name of Jerome Cassan, the +accomplished engineer of the order, who designed them, and under whose +able superintendence they were erected. No wonder they call forth the +admiration of all military officers who visit the place. Immense sums of +money and incalculable toil were lavished upon the undertaking, +regardless of any probable necessity for the expenditure. So far as the +science of military defense goes, it would seem as though perfection had +been reached when Chevalier Cassan finished his original plans; but each +new Grand Master of the Knights seems to have thought it to be his duty +to increase the number of forts, giving to the addition his own name, by +which each section thus constructed is still known. Exposed points on +the coast of both Malta and Gozo were fortified from time to time, until +there were no unprotected bays or inlets left. For centuries before this +was done, piratical invasions were frequently made by small Algerine or +Turkish expeditions landing at unfortified points. A score or two of +armed men were able to ravage a whole district, and carry off half a +hundred families to be sold into slavery. The Turkish and Algerine war +fleets were almost entirely manned at the oars by captives thus secured. + +When these soldier-priests first took possession of the islands, there +was but one fort at Malta, namely, that of St. Angelo, which hardly +deserved to be called a fort. To-day, as we have shown, there is no +unprotected point on the entire coast line of the group. Modern +instruments of warfare have revolutionized the requirements of defensive +works, and many of these elaborate structures, it must be admitted, are +hardly appropriate to our times. Malta is the equal of Gibraltar in a +military point of view, though the fortifications of neither are +absolutely impregnable. Of the latter, it may be said that nature +prepared the place for man's adaptation; but as regards the former, art +alone has produced an unequaled amphitheatre of fortifications. On the +land side Valletta is protected by a labyrinth of marvelous ditches and +ramparts, many of which are cut out of the solid rock, besides having +vast chambers, or caves, of the same substantial character, designed for +the safe storage of grain in anticipation of the place being besieged. +These rock-hewn caves are so arranged that they can be hermetically +sealed. It is said that they will preserve grain in perfect condition +for a score of years. A quantity of provisions is always kept stored in +these receptacles for the use of the garrison, and to meet any sudden +emergency, the same policy being adopted at Gibraltar and Aden. The +warfare of our day, however, admits of no protracted sieges. Such a +struggle as took place before Sebastopol, not very long ago, could not +be sustained between two powers with the present means of destruction +possessed by both parties. In the future, conflicts will be short and +decisive. If anything relating to warfare can be merciful, the sharpest +and shortest process is most so. Lingering contests entail such terrible +consequent ills that they bring with them sufferings paramount to those +caused by the conflict of arms. "The next saddest thing in war to a +defeat is a victory," said Wellington, as he looked sorrowfully upon the +field which he had won by a fearful sacrifice of human life at San +Sebastian. + +The two excellent harbors of Valletta might afford anchorage for six +hundred ships of war, as they have bold, well-defined shores, and an +average depth of ten fathoms. This was not so originally, but is the +result of a thorough system of dredging, which has been faithfully +completed. + +As we look upon the scene from an elevated point, beneath the afternoon +sun, while freely inhaling the lotus-like air of the Mediterranean, +everything is serene and lovely. Over the terraced roofs of Valletta +rises the square tower of the Grand Palace, gay with many colored signal +flags. Across the harbor the eye rests upon Fort Ricasoli, and here +stands stout old St. Elmo, while in the distance Fort San Rocco crowns a +hilltop. Much nearer is Fort St. Angelo, with its record of a thousand +years and more. The numerous domes and towers of the city, though they +are not minarets, have much the same Oriental effect upon the eye. +Myriads of small boats, painted in bright, fanciful colors after the +florid Maltese style, and having canvas coverings sheltering the stern, +shoot hither and thither like birds upon the wing. The boatmen stand +while rowing, as do the oarsmen of the Venetian gondolas, pushing, not +pulling, at the oars. Hundreds of small feluccas line the shore. A group +of fishermen in rude but picturesque costumes are landing the product of +their industry. Half a dozen ships belonging to the British navy, and as +many huge mail steamers, swing lazily at anchor, while little erratic +steam launches dart back and forth from ship to shore; a memorable +picture, the sea and sky being its appropriate frame. French, German, +Italian, and English flags indicate the nationality of the several +vessels, but the eye searches in vain for the stars and stripes of our +Union. The same absence of the American flag is only too observable +throughout nearly all the ports of the Mediterranean and the far East. +The home-keeping citizen who reads these lines can hardly realize the +patriotic sensation mingled with dire homesickness which thrills the +traveler, long absent from his native land, at sight of our beloved +national emblem proudly expanding its folds upon a foreign shore. + +We look in vain for one other significant flag, that of the +eight-pointed cross, which for centuries waved over these battlements as +the sacred banner of the Knights of St. John, the token of their +religious faith and their resolve to conquer or to die, which led them +in the van of battle at Jerusalem, at Acre, and at Rhodes, and under +which they slaughtered the besieging enemy by thousands beneath the wall +of Malta; the gallant flag which so often flashed defiance before the +eyes of sanguinary Turks, treacherous Greeks, and rapacious Algerines +upon the sea; the flag, alas! which was lowered in disgrace, in 1798, +without the firing of a single shot in its defense, to give place to the +tricolor of France, and to acknowledge the mastership of Bonaparte. This +was an act of cowardice equaled only by that of the arch-traitor +Bazaine, who shamefully surrendered a whole army at Metz which was +perfectly capable of winning a signal victory over the Germans, if it +had been led against them by a brave general. The world knows how that +dastard poltroon was tried and punished for his treason, as well as of +his miserable subsequent life and unregretted death in a foreign land. + +To return to the Knights of St. John. This act of treachery--the +surrender of Valletta to the French--was virtually the end of the famous +order; the dying hour, as it were, of a brotherhood which had for +hundreds of years defied the whole Ottoman power almost single handed, +and whose members, as chivalrous knights, won the respect of +Christendom. + +One often reads of the great beauty of the sunset as enjoyed upon this +group, and we cheerfully bear witness to the fact that this phenomenon +of nature is justly eulogized. Writers are apt to grow enthusiastic over +Italian sunsets, especially along the Riviera; but the author, who has +seen this diurnal exhibition in all parts of the globe, can truly say he +has nowhere witnessed it surrounded by more beauty and grandeur of +effect than in our own beloved land. Bostonians who possess an +appreciative eye for the loveliness of cloud and sky effect, have seen +at the closing of day, looking westward over the Charles River, as +glorious exhibitions of the sunset hour as any part of the world can +boast. As to the beauty of the afterglow, the lingering twilight of New +England, "whose mantle is the drapery of dreams," it can be excelled in +no land in either hemisphere. In the enthusiasm of the moment, while on +the Yellow Sea of China, the author gave precedence, in his published +notes, to the remarkable sunsets which characterize that region; but in +this soberer moment a calmer conviction is honestly recorded. Still, the +quivering flame that seemed to burn like lava on the line where sky and +ocean met, the iris hues softly reflected by the vapory tissue of clouds +in the opposite expanse, and the gorgeous robes in which the on-coming +night was wrapped that December evening upon the Yellow Sea, can never +be forgotten by any one who witnessed it. + +On the disappearance of the sun beneath the Mediterranean at Malta, as +soon as the opal fires have burned out of the sky, light clouds usually +fringe the horizon, emitting rapid flashes of lightning which continue +for hours, recalling the Aurora Borealis as seen at Bodoee and Tromsoee, +in Norway. There is no lasting twilight in this latitude. Night follows +close upon the footsteps of the departing day. The brightness of the +stars supervenes so quickly after the curtain falls upon the scene, and +the mellow evening atmosphere is so clear, that the twilight is hardly +missed by the watchful observer, as the Spirit of the night, upon dewy +sandals, begins her course of the circling hours. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + The Soil of Malta.--Imports and Exports.--Absence of + Trees.--Equable Climate.--Three Crops Annually.--Use of + Fertilizers.--Ignorant and Pious Peasantry.--Food of the + People.--Maltese Women.--Oriental Customs.--Roman Catholic + Influence.--Improvisation.--Early Marriages.--A Resort for + the Pope.--Low Wages.--Beggars.--Wind Storms.--Blood Oranges. + --The Carob-Tree.--Maltese Lace.--Sailing along the Shore. + + +It has already been mentioned that a large portion of the island of +Malta is covered with a thin, rich soil, some of which, it is said, was +brought from Sicily at infinite cost and labor. If this is so, of which +we have reasonable doubts, it was done only to a very limited extent. +Vessels sailing hence with merchandise for the mainland or Sicily, +having no return cargo, may have occasionally brought back as ballast +quantities of earth, but that there was ever any systematic importation +of soil is not probable. Much of the surface of the island is still only +bare, calcareous stone, exposed to the fierce winds, rains, and +scorching sunshine. A process of disintegration is constantly going on +which gradually reduces this surface rock to friable matter, and as soon +as a space becomes favorable in its conditions by such means it is +promptly improved by the natives for agricultural purposes. The +extraordinary success which crowns the husbandman's efforts is the +triumph of industry over natural obstacles. All soil is but broken and +decomposed rock, pulverized by various agencies acting during long +periods of time, counting centuries as days. The molten lava poured from +the fiery mouth of Vesuvius has, in the course of ages, become the soil +of thriving vineyards at Resina and Castellamare. The Bahama Islands, +composed originally of coral and limestone, have, during the lapse of +centuries, become such fertile soil at the surface as to nourish the +royal palm, the orange, and the banana, together with the stout-limbed +ceiba and the most delicate fruits of the tropics. It should be +remembered, also, that vegetation does not depend alone upon the soil +for its life and fruitfulness. Like human beings, it borrows vitality +from the rain and atmospheric air. + +This Maltese soil must be of a very prolific nature, and contain hidden +properties which stimulate plant life beyond comparison, to furnish the +means of support for so large a number of inhabitants in so +circumscribed a space. It is true that cattle, sheep, and grain are +regularly imported for the consumption of the garrison and the people, +as the island does not yield sufficient meat and breadstuff for the +support of the population; but other products which are raised here and +exported go far towards balancing the deficiency, by the grain and other +needed supplies which they purchase in return. Two articles, salt and +soda, are produced upon the island and exported in considerable +quantities, the annual income from which reaches a large aggregate sum. +The early potatoes which are grown in several districts of these +islands are of a very choice character, commanding a special market in +England, and realizing good prices. So the Atlantic cities on the +American coast depend upon Bermuda for their early supply of the same +article. Where the ground is not cultivated, wild-growing masses of the +prickly pear often form a feature of the landscape, while the almost +entire absence of trees in the larger island, outside of the city, +creates an arid appearance. The charming color and grateful shade which +are afforded by groves is almost entirely wanting. Neither art nor +nature can produce an effective landscape without their aid. Where the +land is carefully improved, it is not unusual to realize three crops +annually from the same ground, by a timely succession of seeds. It is +the common practice to follow the harvesting of a grain crop by +immediately planting the same field with cotton. This last article has +long been an established product of Malta, where it is believed to be +indigenous. The islands produce two kinds of cotton, one of which is +pure white, the other of a yellowish brown, both having a staple +combining length and silkiness in a peculiar degree. It will thus be +seen that the capacity of the soil and climate is very comprehensive, +and it is interesting to know that there are over sixty thousand acres +of land under cultivation in Malta at the present writing. + +The climate is so equable and mild that there is no sterile period of +the year, no unproductive month in the twelve. Every division of the +season has its special vegetation and its fragrant flowers, thus +rendering the reign of floral beauty ceaseless. March and April, +however, are the months which present the most luxuriant phase of +vegetation in this latitude. Though Malta lies much farther south than +Naples, the heat of summer is not so intense there as it is in southern +Italy. The plants which are so liberally displayed in the balconies of +the dwellings require no shelter all the year round. Thus at all times +striking bits of color line the second stories of the houses upon the +Strada Reale. It will depend somewhat upon the stranger's fancy whether +he is attracted by these beautiful flowers, so vivid in color, or by the +graceful forms, the lovely olive-hued faces, and appealing eyes, which +are half hidden behind them, like screened batteries. One cannot closely +observe the use of the Maltese hood, presumedly the insignia of modesty, +without becoming convinced that it serves in no small degree the same +purpose as the Spanish fan in the hands of an accomplished Andalusian +woman. + +The obtaining of three crops annually from the same field is not only +remarkable in itself, but is also significant of the prevailing industry +of the Maltese, as well as of the fertility of the soil and the +propitiousness of the climate for agricultural enterprise. It is +observed that in sheltered places, where the soil is quite neglected by +the hand of man, nature exhibits often a wanton luxuriance of vegetable +growth almost tropical. Another obvious reason for this marked +fertility of the cultivated soil should be mentioned, namely, that the +natives understand and fully appreciate the great value of manure, which +no artificial fertilizer can equal in permanent results. Like the +Chinese, the people here achieve excellent returns in agriculture by +deserving them. The most unwilling soil will succumb to such persevering +and intelligent treatment. The careful collection and application of +domestic refuse to the land is systematically pursued by the farmers, +which process is conducive to cleanliness and health as well as to good +husbandry, thus serving a twofold purpose. + +Were the same liberal use of easily obtained enrichment, together with a +system of irrigation (also well understood in Malta), to be applied to +our constantly abandoned farms in New England, we should hear much less +grumbling as regards their sterility, while the returns which would be +realized in the shape of an ample harvest would liberally compensate for +all cost of time and labor. There is no zone where nature will do +everything for man; his work upon the farm is only begun with the +planting of the seed. The fact is, many of our farmers work on the +principle of the Kodak man,--"You touch the button, and we do the rest." +Sitting down in indolence and despair, such men wonder that their +utterly neglected lands do not yield better crops, talking the while +about rich fields and virgin soil which are supposed to exist somewhere, +far away in Utopia. + +Until the author visited Malta, he thought that the British island of +Barbadoes, the farthest windward of the West Indian group, was the most +densely populated spot on the globe, but here we find human beings +numbering over thirteen hundred to the productive square mile. One +intelligent statistician places the population at fourteen hundred, but +the first estimate is quite extraordinary enough. As a matter of +comparison, it may be mentioned that the population of England averages +three hundred souls to a similar space. The steady increase of the +people in numbers speaks well for the average health of Malta, on whose +dry soil and in whose usually pure air children thrive and adults live +to an extreme old age. The residents have a saying that invalids are +obliged to go away to Nice or Mentone, on the mainland, to die, since no +one shuffles off this mortal coil by natural means in Malta. There is +certainly nothing in the local conditions or in the geographical +position to generate any sort of malady. No vegetable matter is +permitted to decompose, nor are objectionable substances allowed to +remain aboveground. Malta no doubt has its drawbacks, but its climate, +as a rule, is very healthy. "Malta healthy?" responded a local physician +to our inquiry. "Why, we professionals are simply starved out for want +of practice." "How about the plague and the cholera?" we asked. "Ah, an +occasional visit of that sort occurs, to be sure, at wide intervals, +otherwise our occupation would be gone." He added, "All the world is +liable to such visitations; but as to the general healthfulness of this +island, no one can justly find fault." Such is probably the truth. +English physicians continue to send certain classes of their patients +hither regularly. + +The men one meets outside of the city, in and about the villages, +engaged upon the land, or otherwise, form a hardy, swarthy, and capable +race,--industrious, ignorant, and very pious. These men, on an average, +are not quite so tall as those of North America, but they are strong, +broad-shouldered, frugal, and honest, with a decided Moorish cast of +countenance, whose usual expression is a compound of apathy and +dejection. That the Maltese are a temperate people is very plain. +Drunkenness is scarcely ever to be met with even in the humbler portions +of the capital, or along the shores of the harbor, where seamen +congregate, and where every facility for indulgence is easily +procurable. It is but fair to say that sobriety of habit is the rule +among the common classes of the people. In the rural districts great +simplicity of life prevails. Vegetable diet is almost universal, varied +by an occasional meal of fish. Meat is much more costly, and is seldom +indulged in by ordinary people, in town or country. Fish, which abounds +along the shore, is both cheap and nourishing. Shell-fish, especially, +are a favorite food in Malta. We say meat is costly; it is only so, as +compared with the means of the common people, and the amount of money +they realize in the form of wages. Beef sells in the market here at +about the same price as is charged in our Atlantic cities. Considerable +mutton is raised in the group, but the beef which is used for food +purposes is nearly all brought from over the sea, the larger portion +coming from the Barbary coast. As regards the cost of living at Malta, +that depends so much upon individual requirements that no general rule +applies, but it is certainly considerably less expensive than at either +Nice or Cannes. + +A certain inclination for seclusion is observable among the Maltese +women in all parts of the group. They are rarely, if ever, seen abroad +with their husbands. Their predilection for indoor life is pronounced, +and when hastening to morning mass through the streets of Valletta, the +shielding black hood is always in requisition, unrelieved by a touch of +bright or cheerful color. The general effect is nun-like and funereal. +There is an axiom current here to the effect that "A woman should never +appear abroad but twice,--on the day of her marriage, and that of her +funeral." This sentiment emphasises in a degree the fact of the Eastern +origin of the people. No such absolute seclusion as this saying implies +is, however, observed here. Though the faldetta is universally worn, +still, as we have already intimated, many women use it in so coquettish +a manner that they not only expose their pretty faces, but they also +manage to see all that goes on about them. The average woman is very +much the same, whether in Cairo, on the Strada Reale, Malta, or on the +Champs Elysees,--whether in the atmosphere of the Mediterranean, or on +the banks of the Seine. The semi-Oriental custom of the sex, as observed +in these islands, is doubtless a relic of their association with and +descent from the Mohammedans. As they neither use nor understand a word +of any language except Maltese Arabic, it is of course impossible for a +stranger to hold conversation with them. One would have to speak, not +Turkish, but Maltese Arabic, to do so. + +The land in Malta is universally terraced on the side-hills. This method +serves a double purpose: that of beautifying the landscape, while it +secures the soil in its proper place, as one sees it in Switzerland or +on the Rhine. Being of a spongy nature, the soil retains the moisture +for a long time, thus insuring fertility. Though there are long periods +during which no rain falls, little trouble is realized from drought. The +ownership of the land is about equally divided between the English +government, the church, and two or three thousand farming proprietors. +The Roman Catholic institution is the same leech upon the common people +here that it proves to be on the mainland and in European countries, +keeping the ignorant, superstitious class in indigence by taxing its +individual members up to the last point of endurance, and beclouding +their humble mental capacity. How else could a swarming tribe of useless +non-producers like the priesthood be supported in well-fed, sensual +idleness, and the costly ornamentation and ceremonies of the church be +maintained? There is said to be a priest for every thirty families in +the group, men who are intensely bigoted and ridiculously ignorant +outside of their professional routine, but who are the apt tools of more +able personages who hold higher positions in the church. They are ever +ready to show their credulous parishioners pieces of the true cross and +other sham relics "to whet their almost blunted appetite." Yet it may be +doubted if these cunning Maltese agents of the Romish church could go +any further in this direction than was lately done by a priest of the +same denomination in the city of New York, who pretended to exhibit for +worship a bone from the body of St. Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, +which anxious hundreds of deluded people were "permitted" to kneel down +and kiss! + +Do not let us talk any more about idol worship among the Fiji tribes or +the people of "Darkest Africa," while we have in our midst such +barefaced trickery under the veil of religion. + +The humble owners of the land in Malta, as we have tried to show, are +naturally a thrifty, hard-working people, neither rich nor poor. The +reader would be surprised to see how much of seeming plenty, comfort, +and contentment exists among these sturdy natives under such adverse +circumstances. Notwithstanding their uncultured condition, the lowly +country people have a genius for poetry; indeed, all Eastern tribes who +speak the Arabic tongue are thus endowed. This talent finds expression +in a sort of improvisation, by which means two persons will hold earnest +converse with each other, asserting and denying in something very like +epic poetry. They chant their words in a wild, Maltese sing-song, which +appear exactly to accord one with the other, though the music seems to +be equally improvised with the ideas of the singer. However +unconventional the words and the music may be, there is still a certain +rude harmony in both, evidently animated now and then by gorgeous gleams +of fancy. + +These Maltese are a prolific race, marry quite young, rear large +families, and are very fond of their children. Brides only thirteen +years of age are common among the working classes. It is a touching +sight to watch these childlike mothers with a crude instinct gently +fondling their tiny babes,--dolls, we were about to write. It recalled +far-away Japan, where the daily life of the humbler classes presents +similar domestic tableaux. Japan is a land of babies, where the annual +crop is marvelously sure. In both instances, these youthful mothers, as +may naturally be supposed, grow old in appearance at a comparatively +early age. It requires no prophet to declare that premature maternity +entails premature old age. + +We do not intend to convey the idea that ignorance and its natural +consequences do not prevail among the Maltese peasantry, when we say +that there is much of seeming comfort and contentment to be found among +them. As an average class, these children of the soil exhibit only too +clearly their want of culture and intelligence. The priests oppose all +efforts to improve them by schools. Education is virtually tabooed by +the church, it being held that devotion to the Roman Catholic religion +is all that is necessary for their spiritual or earthly welfare. Said a +famous English general: "Thinking bayonets are dangerous. What we +require in a soldier is a machine that knows just enough to obey +orders." So it is with the followers of the Roman Catholic faith; people +who can read and reason for themselves are "dangerous," so far as +putting trust in that bigoted creed is concerned. What the church +requires is machines which will obey orders, and yield up their +hard-earned wages to support the priesthood and the regal Romish palace +of the Pope at Rome. Any unprejudiced observant traveler in Spain, +Italy, Mexico, or South America will bear witness to the truth of this +statement. Not one twentieth of the inhabitants of this Maltese group +can read and write. In populous, overcrowded China, eight tenths of the +inhabitants can read and write, and yet the Western nations look upon +them as semi-barbarians. + +Can any one indicate another people on the globe, eight tenths of whom +can read and write? Education is not only compulsory, but it is the only +stepping-stone to high preferment in the civil service of the +government. Our venal politicians would do well to profit by the example +of China. + +It will be remembered in this connection that since the suppression of +the Pope's temporal power in Italy Malta has been looked upon as a +possible future residence for the head of the Romish church. An +influential section of the councils of the Vatican has favored the +idea, and it would seem to be well suited for the purpose. Were this to +occur, Malta would eventually become the Mecca of Catholicism. We may +not expect to see such a change brought about in our day; if it should +ever happen, it would add but one more to the strange vicissitudes in +the history of Malta. + +The wages paid to ordinary laborers in these islands are insignificant +in amount, though there has been an improvement in this respect during +the last decade. Boatmen in the harbor demand but nine-pence, English +money, for rowing a person to or from a ship lying a quarter of a mile +from the landing. Equally moderate terms prevail for pleasure +excursions, according to the service and the time occupied. Women +employed in field labor receive twenty-five cents per day, and men one +third more. The P. & O. Steamship Company pay to colliers half a dollar +a day; the same men get forty cents per day at the wharves. Blacksmiths, +carpenters, stonemasons, boat-builders, and sail-makers rarely earn more +than seventy-five cents per day. The drivers of the street vehicles in +Valletta are quite reasonable in their demands, and a shilling will pay +one's fare to any part of the city. The little one-horse vehicles called +_carrozzellas_ are well adapted to their purpose. + +The same economic conditions are found here as prevail in India and +China. The multiplicity of seekers for employment keeps the prices which +are paid for services at a minimum rate. So, in over-populated +Barbadoes, a plantation hand can earn but twenty-five cents for a day's +work continued through ten hours. To be sure, that sum will more than +feed him; and as to clothes and shelter, these are of secondary +consideration in the tropics, where only conventional ideas require the +native race to wear clothes of any sort. Idlers swarm about the landings +and in the open squares of Valletta, who, it would seem, might be better +employed upon the soil inland. An organized effort of capital and +official influence to this end would accomplish the object, and render +many a square mile of the now sterile ground not only beautiful to the +eye, but also exuberantly productive. All over the civilized world the +most useless and idle portion of the people leave comparatively +comfortable homes in the country, where at least good food and shelter +can nearly always be earned, to crowd into cities, attracted thither by +the glamour of vice and fast life which always prevails more or less in +populous centres. + +The arrival of a P. & O. steamship in the harbor of Malta, with a goodly +number of passengers bound either east or west, is a harvest time for +the beggars, who know very well how to challenge the generosity of +strangers. They have made a careful study of the business; they have +elevated it, as De Quincey would say, to the dignity of a fine art. The +"Nix Mangare Stairs" of Valletta are the congregating place of an army +of mendicants of every species, men, women, and children, who exhibit +all manner of deformities, both real and artificial, as well as every +grade of dirt and squalor. In landing and making one's way up to the +main thoroughfare of the city, it is necessary to run the gauntlet of +this horde of poverty-stricken people. At the base of these "nothing to +eat stairs," the longshoremen and fishermen also congregate. It was just +here that Midshipman Easy and his companion procured the boat in which +they escaped after the "triangular duel." The evil odors permeating the +atmosphere in the vicinity are what might be expected from a people +reveling in garlic and eschewing soap. The daily food of the class one +sees in this section of the city is a slice of black bread and a raw +onion. The traveler's disgust and sympathy are both wrought upon to an +extreme degree, while amid all the clamor and whining appeals the +practiced eye pauses for a moment to note the picturesqueness of mingled +colors and of ragged humanity. The same recalls to mind the broad stone +steps leading up to the Capo di Monti from the Piazza di Spagna, in +Rome, where the artists' models assemble, clothed in a "congress" of +colors. + +When it is remembered that the violence of the winds which sometimes +blow over these islands is such that in any other part of the world they +would be called hurricanes, the successful results achieved by the +Maltese gardeners and agriculturists appear more surprising. In order to +furnish protection from these fierce winds, high and solid stone walls +surround every grain, vegetable, and fruit field, all of which are +purposely made small in area. These yellow walls, wearisome, monotonous, +and unlovely to the eye, are often ten feet in height, not only +sheltering, but also hiding vegetation, so that when the island is first +observed from on shipboard, while a few miles away, it appears like a +huge stone quarry. Nothing could possibly seem more uninviting. Under +these circumstances, scarcely a tree or shrub of any sort is visible, +with the exception of an occasional slim and solemn-looking cypress, or +a straggling old olive-tree raising its isolated and twisted head above +the arid rocks. Some of these walls are redeemed from utter dreariness +by the pendulous cactus which hangs from their tops, fringed with yellow +bloom. It is a strange though common plant, consisting of a succession +of bulbous formations, quite flat and an inch or more thick, which serve +the double purpose of stalk and leaves. The incurious traveler is thus +impressed, by these screening walls, with an incorrect idea of the true +nature of the island. + +A passenger once said, in our hearing, replying to a friendly query: +"No, I did not land at Malta, and had no desire to do so. It is nothing +but a bare rock, with a few dwelling-houses inside of big lines of +fortifications. I saw quite enough of its barrenness from the deck of +our ship to disenchant me." + +How mistaken was this superficial estimate! One would think that the +most prosaic passenger would wish to know more of the builders, and the +monuments they have left behind them, in the stately city beneath whose +stupendous ramparts the ship lies anchored. Let us chaperon the reader, +so that he shall entertain no such unwarranted impression of this Queen +of the Mediterranean. + +Malta is particularly beautiful when seen from the Valletta side. At +first, while distance intervenes, the city, softly limned against the +azure sky, seems like some phantom mirage; but soon the picture, rapidly +growing in distinctness, becomes clear in detail. The grim, defiant, and +almost endless fortifications, the many-domed and terraced city, the +grand and lofty stone warehouses, the great war-ships surrounded by +lesser commercial craft, all gayly decorated with national emblems, +combine to form a picture long to be remembered, while the island is +girt by a sapphire sea of purest blue, reaching far away to the +horizon,--such a blue as is sometimes reflected in the eyes of very +young children, or seen in wood-violets just opening their petals to the +light. One should approach the place with a kindly purpose, and not +harshly repel the happy suggestions of the moment. If we would find +picturesqueness and beauty anywhere, we must bring with us a reasonable +degree of appreciation. It is the softened soul which receives +delightful and enduring impressions. One pities the man who can travel +from Dan to Beersheba and say, "All is barren," while we sympathize and +rejoice exceedingly with him who finds "sermons in stones and good in +everything." + +A close inspection of Malta will undeceive any one as to its being a +sterile spot. Grapes, melons, figs, oranges,--almost equal to those of +Bahia, in Brazil,--lemons, peaches, apples, and pears, besides many +other kinds of fruits and berries, are raised here in abundance. +Gardening is brought to a high state of perfection; the closest +observation reveals no weeds. It is plain that the husbandmen are +familiar with toil and endurance. The small but prolific vineyards are +charming to look upon, though it must be admitted that the Maltese +grapes are not of the best sort for wine-making. The wine in common use +here is imported from Sicily and southern Italy. Comparatively little +fermented liquor of any sort is consumed by the natives. Grapes are +usually eaten in their natural condition, when sufficiently ripe, but +they are not so plentiful as to form a portion of the food supply of the +populace at certain seasons, as is the case in Switzerland and the south +of France. The blood orange is grown in the vicinity of Valletta in +great perfection, being propagated by grafting a slip of the ordinary +fruit tree upon a pomegranate stem. The color of the pulp of the fruit +thus produced inclines to that of the adopted tree; hence its expressive +name. This luscious orange, even in Malta, where it abounds, sells for a +higher price than the ordinary fruit. In Florida we have large and +productive orange groves, but they are the result of infinite care and +intelligent methods. Here in Malta the orange seems to grow after its +own sweet will, requiring but very little attention from the period of +the fragrant blossoms to that of the ripe and golden fruit. The +Mediterranean orange is not so large as the Florida product, but it is +of finer quality and rich in flavor, with a thin skin and an abundance +of juice. One other indigenous fruit should be mentioned. It is called +St. John's fig, because it is at its perfection on the anniversary of +the fete of that apostle as celebrated by the Romish church. Other +species of figs are grown upon these islands, but none equal to this. +The mingling of sexes is so important and so clearly defined a factor in +regard to the fruitfulness of the tree that the cultivators of the +fig-trees in Malta heed it as strictly as they would in the breeding of +favorite animals. + +The staple product of the group is perhaps cotton, which is exported in +limited quantities, sufficient being retained and manufactured here for +the use of the common people. The Maltese are believed to have been +famous for the production of certain lines of textile fabrics, even in +the ancient days of Phoenician sovereignty. History tells us that the +Sicilian praetor, Verres, sent hither for women's garments,--certain fine +articles of female wear, with which to deck the favorites of his court; +and doubtless there was even then produced here something similar to +that which is so favorably known as Maltese lace, and which is still so +profitable a product of this people. Diodorus Siculus said in his day, +"The inhabitants are very rich, inasmuch as they exercise many trades, +and in particular they manufacture cloths remarkable for their softness +and fineness." Lace is also now made by the Greek women, not a little of +which finds its way to the counters of Valletta merchants, where it is +sold to strangers as being of native manufacture. + +Here and there small plots of sugar-cane and tobacco may be seen under +fairly successful cultivation, but we suspect that both are of modern +introduction, for certainly they are not indigenous. The appearance of +these small fields of the Indian weed and the saccharine plant, to one +familiar with their growth in Cuba and Louisiana, is like a broad +caricature. Cigars, chewing tobacco, and snuff are produced here, but +almost entirely from stock which has been imported in the raw state for +this purpose. Considerable quantities are exported in the manufactured +form, though the local consumption is large, the English garrison being +liberal purchasers, while tobacco in some form is the usual indulgence +of the longshoremen. + +One occasionally sees in Malta a peculiar tree called the carob, with +thick, dark green foliage. It is a species of locust, growing to an +average height of ten feet, but spreading along the earth three times +that size in width. If its extended branches reentered the soil it would +be like the Asiatic banyan-tree. The carob is said to be as long-lived +as the olive-tree, and bears a nourishing bean, which is cooked and +eaten by the common people. It is considered particularly excellent for +fattening domestic animals. Sheep and goats eat the bean in a green +state from the branches of the carob, which has given rise to the saying +that in Malta animals climb the trees to procure their food. This tree +is green all the year round like our spruce and pine, and flourishes in +the most rocky soil, requiring but little depth of earth to sustain and +feed it. It seems to have no difficulty in finding or in making +fissures, into which to send its expanding roots. It will be remembered +that the friable rock of which the group is formed, until it has been +exposed for some time to atmospheric influences, is almost as soft as +common clay. If there are palm-trees on these islands, outside of the +botanical gardens at Floriana, we did not chance to see them, but we +have known writers to speak of the palm as growing in Malta. The +climate, though semi-tropical, is hardly adapted to the life of this +beautiful tree, which is one of the greatest charms of the tropics and +the East. + +Nothing in the neighborhood of Valletta affords such enjoyment, or is so +suggestive and restful, after a busy day occupied in sight-seeing, as a +pull along the coast beyond the harbor's mouth, in a good Maltese boat, +propelled by a couple of stout oarsmen, while the languid sea breaks +upon the shore in tender caresses. It goes without saying that a +moonlight night must be selected for the excursion. One is not likely to +forget the picture presented by the grim fortifications, the looming +towers and domes, the tall, slim spire of the English church, the mass +of flat-roofed dwellings, the clear-cut architectural lines of the +principal edifices, or the fascination of the cradlelike motion, the +delightful coolness, the great sense of peacefulness and silence. Is not +this elysium? How responsive are the dimpled waters to the smile of the +gracious moon, which suggests so much more than it reveals! How idle and +sensuous is every surrounding! When the passing breeze touches the +surface of the waters with a gentle pressure, the color deepens, just as +a youthful maiden's cheek might do, electrified by a lover's first kiss. +Is it because one realizes the evanescent character of these delights +that a feeling of sadness intervenes? Is there not a gladness which +makes the heart afraid? + +It is impossible to give expression to the golden memories we have +cherished of these delightful Maltese associations,--pictures which time +cannot efface, images, beautiful and enduring. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + The Climate of Malta.--The Furious Gregale.--Liability to + Sunstroke.--The African Sirocco.--Cloudless Days.--A Health + Resort.--English Church.--View of Etna.--Volcanic + Disturbances.--Will Malta Eventually Disappear?--Native + Flora.--Flower-Girls of Valletta.--Absence of Lakes and + Rivers.--The Moon-Flower.--Grand Stone Aqueduct.--After the + Roman Plan of Building.--Fountains.--Results of Irrigation. + + +The climate of Malta is a subject of more than ordinary importance. The +air and sky are African, though its life and associations are strongly +European. The winter temperature--December and January--very rarely +falls below 50 deg. Fahr., and though hail-storms do sometimes visit the +islands, at rare intervals, snow is unknown. The season when such +unwelcome visitations occur is very short. An entire day devoid of +sunshine, even in the winter months, is unusual. It is not without +interest to know that the longest day in this region is fifteen hours +less eight minutes. In summer the thermometer rises to 85 deg., and even +95 deg., in the shade, while the direct rays of the sun are then almost +unbearable by human beings, and especially by unacclimated foreigners. +_Coups de soleil_ are not uncommon in the ranks of the soldiery. Those +familiar with the life of Grand Master La Vallette will remember that he +died from sunstroke received here in 1557. A brief exposure to the +sun's heat cost the life of the hardy old soldier who had survived so +many dangerous wounds received on the battlefield. It is a saying in +Malta that only newly arrived tourists and mad dogs expose themselves to +the blaze of the midday summer sun. Even the natives are cautious in +this respect. + +The temperature drops rapidly when the fierce wind known as the gregale +prevails, blowing from the northeast across the Ionian Sea directly into +the Grand Harbor of Valletta. When this wind occurs, the blue of the sky +turns to a dull leaden hue; clouds troop up from the east in close +phalanxes; the birds fly low, uttering ominous cries; and all nature +seems to be in the throes of distress. An evil wind,--sometimes it is of +such force as to drive the largest vessels from their moorings, while it +makes sad havoc among the lesser craft. On such occasions, everything +afloat which can be so handled is hauled up on the shore, which is the +usual mode of securing small vessels all along the shores of the +Mediterranean to-day, just as it has been for centuries. The natives who +navigate these waters have quite a reputation as efficient mariners; but +they do not compare favorably with either American or European sailors +in this respect. They are not seamen of the long voyage, who have +learned to contend successfully with the ocean when in its wildest +moods. Their instinct is to run at once for a safe harbor when a storm +threatens. So with the mariners of the Red Sea, between Aden and Suez, +who will not venture out of port if the hot winds of that region blow +too hard to permit a candle to burn on the forecastle of their vessels. +Asiatics, as a rule, are poor seamen. + +A pampero at Montevideo or a norther at Vera Cruz is not much more +disagreeable and destructive than is the gregale at Malta (the +"Euroclydon" of the Scriptures). Nor is one other dreaded visitor much +less objectionable; that is, a strong wind rising on the Egyptian coast, +which, sweeping hitherward, wraps an unwelcome mantle of cold gray mist +about the Maltese group. + +This bit of terra firma is so isolated and exposed on all sides that +when any severe weather prevails in "the great middle sea," it must +encounter its entire force. In summer the heat is often aggravated by +the sirocco, a humid, wilting, scorching wind which blows from the +southeast across the African desert, sometimes charged with a fine, +penetrating dust, for which it is difficult satisfactorily to account. +This wind, on leaving Africa, is quite dry; but when it reaches Malta, +having traversed a long expanse of sea, it becomes heavily charged with +vapor, without losing the heat which it borrowed in passing over the +African desert. It subjects those whom it encounters to something very +like a steam bath. Yet regardless of all drawbacks, whose importance we +are by no means inclined to exaggerate, the average winter weather is +considered by many Europeans to be delightful and wholesome, attracting +scores of English invalids and others annually, who are in search of a +temporary home abroad to avoid the dreary London season of fog and +gloom. After giving the subject considerable attention, together with +careful inquiries of local authorities, the author came to the +conclusion that Malta was not a very desirable resort for consumptives; +nor should it be forgotten that a low form of typhoid fever is common +much of the year in Valletta. The dreaded African wind just described +prevails in September and October, often blowing for three or four +consecutive days. It must be a sound constitution which can successfully +withstand its enervating influence. An invalid quickly loses appetite, +courage, and even physical capacity to walk any distance, when the +sirocco prevails. + +The winds of the Mediterranean are so regular in their occurrence as to +be easily and correctly anticipated at their proper seasons. This was +understood, and attracted special notice, even in ancient times. "The +wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it +whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to +his circuits" (Ecclesiastes i. 6). + +The seasons are divided here into five winter and five summer months, +spring and autumn being each one month in duration. Winter begins in the +middle of November; summer, in the middle of May. The winds are rather +cool in winter unless they blow from the southwest. When they come from +other quarters, they pass over snow-clad mountains, the Atlas range, +those of Corsica or Sardinia, and the hoary brow of AEtna. The chief +advantage of this island group as a winter resort for those in delicate +health is the large proportion of sunny, cloudless days, while the main +drawback is the occasional fierceness of the winds. This sums up the +matter in brief. + +A book has been lately issued from the press, written by one who +traveled eastward, entitled "Seeking the Sun." It is to be hoped that +the author was successful in his search. If not, let him visit Malta, +not forgetting to take with him a white umbrella. It is useless to look +for a land without climatic objections. The difference between Malta and +the famous Riviera on the opposite coast of the mainland is, upon the +whole, very slight. At Nice and Mentone, in fact all along that favorite +coast bordering the Mediterranean, the mistral is the bane of the +health-seeker; while in this group the gregale is the twin evil. This +minute mention is made for the sake of completeness. On the whole, the +Maltese climate is equable and mild. It is not so dry, atmospherically, +as Algiers, Tangier, or Egypt; but it is quite as warm. As is generally +the case throughout the Mediterranean basin, the difference in +temperature between night and day is scarcely two degrees. Uniformity in +this respect is a great desideratum, and it is certainly to be found +here. The author has realized a difference of thirty-three degrees +Fahrenheit within twenty-four hours in Cairo, Egypt, and also in St. +Augustine, Florida. + +Malta was first rendered popular among English health-seekers by the +visit, for this purpose, of Dowager Queen Adelaide, widow of William +IV., who passed the winter of 1836 on the island, with decided advantage +to her physical condition. + +The Dowager Queen evinced her gratitude for restored health by erecting +here an Episcopal place of worship, known as the Church of St. Paul, +situated on the Piazza Gelsi. It is a plain edifice, both inside and +out, but of chaste and elegant Grecian design. The old palace of the +German branch of the Knights of St. John was torn down to afford a site +for this church, the construction of which drew upon the generous +donor's purse to the extent of one hundred thousand dollars. Its tall, +pointed spire is quite conspicuous, in a general view of the town, the +architecture being so in contrast with its surroundings. There was a +bitter but useless opposition made by the arrogant Roman Catholic +priesthood of Malta against its construction. The priesthood, however, +soon found that they had to deal with a power that could crush their +influence in the group altogether, if it chose to do so, and were forced +to eat humble pie, after exposing their spirit of bigotry. This church +has a fine set of bells, and contains a valuable theological library. +The Dowager Queen also established an infant school or kindergarten, +with an English lady teacher, which proved to be a decided success, and +a revelation to this isolated community as regarded the education of +children. It proved to be a spur to mental culture in older persons, who +saw, with surprise, children five or six years of age able to read and +to answer simple questions in arithmetic, as well as exhibiting ripening +intelligence concerning everything about them. This admirable example +was not without its due effect upon the government. There are to-day ten +infant schools and seventy-six primary schools in the city of Valletta. +The visit of the Queen Dowager lasted three months, during which time +she endeared herself very much to the Maltese by her kindness and +consideration. + +The excellent and melodious organ used in St. Paul's Church was removed +from the cathedral in the quaint old city of Chester, England, where it +had long served its purpose, being replaced there by a very superior +modern instrument. + +The atmosphere of this region is so clear that the grand, solitary, +sulphurous cone of Mount AEtna can be sometimes seen, though it is +situated a hundred and thirty miles away, in Sicily. The coast, +stretching east and west from Cape Passaro, which is the nearest point +to the Maltese islands, is also occasionally visible. The mountain, when +seen against the northern sky, assumes the shape of an irregular cone +with a widespread base. Some not clearly understood law of refraction +must aid the human vision to discern these objects at such great +distances beyond the horizon. The most favorable time of the day to seek +a view of far-away AEtna is at sunrise or near sunset. The reader +familiar with the White Mountains of New Hampshire has doubtless seen +Portland harbor, in the State of Maine, from the top of Mount +Washington, though this is a distance of about eighty miles. In this +case, the object which is sighted at such long range is at sea level, +while AEtna is over ten thousand feet above the surface of the +Mediterranean Sea. Sailors describe the view of far-distant objects as +promoted by "atmospheric looming," which perhaps applies in this +instance, when one not only sees the low-lying coast of Italy, but it +appears to be hardly more than twenty or thirty miles away. + +The idea of this group of islands being in some way connected, beneath +the bed of the sea, with the volcano just named is no longer +entertained. The Maltese islands have often experienced severe shocks of +earthquake, but, so far as is known, never at the time when AEtna was in +eruption. Sir Walter Scott, in his journal, mentions having experienced +a shock while he was on a visit to the island, of which the inhabitants +seemed to take little, if any, notice, showing that it was not a very +uncommon occurrence. On the Pacific side of South America, say at +Valparaiso, it must be a very decided demonstration of this sort to +cause remark. The most destructive earthquake in Malta of which we can +find any record was in 1693, when the shocks were quite severe, and +continued at brief intervals for three successive days, producing great +consternation and injury. No loss of life is mentioned as having +occurred, but the dwelling-houses and fortifications of Valletta +suffered considerably, and one or two churches were nearly destroyed in +the city. At Citta Vecchia, in the middle of the larger island, the +dome, towers, and in fact the entire walls of the cathedral were leveled +with the ground by a succession of violent shocks. + +There is a remarkable tradition, which has been handed down from +generation to generation for centuries past, that the time will come +when Malta and its dependencies will be swallowed up by the sea, and +that where it is now so securely anchored the Mediterranean will be +navigable for ships of any size. When we recall the fact that, within +the memory of many of us, an island suddenly appeared off the shore of +Malta, between here and the coast of Sicily, so large as to be formally +taken possession of by Great Britain (called Graham's Island), but which +has since totally disappeared, so that the sea is as deep over the spot +where it stood as it is anywhere in the vicinity, the possibility of the +prediction relating to Malta does not seem to be so very unreasonable. +The only marvel is that the probability of such an event should have +been predicted so long ago, and that we should have seen in the present +century an exemplification of just such an occurrence in the appearance +and disappearance of the island just spoken of, so very near Malta. + +The Mediterranean constitutes the greatest marine highway in the world, +a fact which particularly impresses one who has traversed nearly all the +lonely seas and oceans known to navigators. It is seldom that some sail +or island is not in sight from the deck beneath one's feet, while +mammoth steamships are constantly met speeding to or from European or +Asiatic ports, leaving in their wake two marked features, one of dark +wreathing smoke, reaching skyward, and the other of bright, mingled +colors upon the frothy sea. Over the seething waters thus churned into a +Milky Way, in the wake of the steamships, hover flocks of broad-winged, +snow-plumed gulls, watching for bits of marine food, or for scraps +thrown from the ships' galleys, while filling the air with their rude, +contentious cries. + +The native flora of Malta is of a character similar to that of Sicily +and northern Africa. The same semi-tropical species prevail, with but +few exceptions, and where there is sufficient soil to permit, there is +the same wild exuberance of vegetation. It was early in March when the +author first landed at Valletta, a most propitious date for a first +impression. The trees were in full bloom within the sheltering walls of +the city, the lovely blossoms of the fruit trees being especially +conspicuous, while every available nook and corner was beautified by a +display of fragrant flowers in great variety. Among these were +heliotrope, pinks, tulips, hyacinths, pansies, roses, and daffodils, +"that come before the swallow dares." Many balconies of the +dwelling-houses were wreathed with creeping vines, among which a cluster +of scarlet bloom caught the eye here and there, relieved by pale blue +and pink fuchsias. Choice bouquets were selling on the streets for a few +pennies each, the pretty Maltese girls displaying exquisite taste in +the arrangement of colors relieved by backgrounds of maidenhair ferns. +Mingled with these charming flowers some very beautiful orchids were +seen, though we were told that they were not in their prime so early in +the year. To one fresh from a long sea voyage, it seemed as though a +floral carnival was in full tide,--a revel of roses. This queen of +flowers, together with violets, both of which grow here in profusion, +was famous even in Cicero's time, when luxurious Romans reclined upon +pillows stuffed with the odorous leaves. The Mediterranean sun and light +appear to intensify the native color of every blossom and every flower. +Was it a passing fancy only, or do these children of Flora sacrifice in +a degree their normal fragrance in order to assume this extraordinary +vividness of complexion? One is reminded of the gaudy birds of the +tropics. Those of most vivid and brilliant plumage have not the +exquisite sweetness of song which characterizes our more soberly clad +favorites of the colder north. No zone monopolizes perfection; +compensation is sure to peep out somewhere. If a certain charm or +endowment be wanting, there is sure to be some equivalent furnished. + +One floral gem is especially remembered which was shown to us in a +private garden near the Porta Reale, and which was indeed a novelty. It +is called in Malta the moon-flower, and its hour of bloom is at +eventide. It never sees the sun, folding its leaves at the first gleam +of the dawn. The flower is ermine white, like the snowy japonica, and +is nearly as scentless as that regal flower. So the lily-like +night-blooming cereus of the Bahamas opens its petals at sunset, and +closes them at the break of day. + +There are no rivers, natural lakes, or running streams worthy of the +name on these islands, but there are numerous excellent never-failing +springs, whose overflow is improved for irrigating purposes, and whose +regular supply has been carefully utilized for a period of over two +centuries by means of a system of waterworks of a very substantial +character. This important work was begun in 1610, and finished in 1615. +The winter rains are fairly abundant in the months of December, January, +and February. The water from this source is saved for domestic use by +means of ample stone cisterns, nearly every dwelling-house being thus +provided. The grand aqueduct which furnishes the city with +drinking-water is over nine miles long, finding its chief fountain-head +at Diaz Chandal, not far from Citta Vecchia. In order to insure a full +supply, several springs were united by means of subterranean conduits, +so that the combined water flows towards the capital in one large +channel. As far as Casal Attard the aqueduct is under ground; from this +point it rises and disappears according to the undulations of the +surface of the island. These springs are never affected by drought, and +as to the quality of the water, we can bear testimony to its purity and +excellence. In its course, the water passes over a line of many hundred +substantial stone arches, picturesque to look upon, but entirely +superfluous. It is built after the old Roman style, being raised to a +level across the valleys and depressions. These people did not know that +water will always rise to the height of its source. The Romans showed +the same want of knowledge regarding this, the simplest law of +hydraulics; _vide_ the graceful, half-ruined arches which cross the +Campagna to the very gates of the "Eternal City." The principal outlet +of this Maltese aqueduct is a conspicuous and ornamental fountain in the +square of St. George, fronting the old palace of the Grand Masters. From +here the water is distributed by conduits, which extend to various parts +of the town and fortifications. There are over fifty public fountains in +Valletta. Some of these at times exhibit novel pictures, when the people +in characteristic groups gather about them for their supplies. + +Such a system of waterworks, built in the old style as described, must +have cost an extravagant sum of money, but the Knights of St. John did +not lack for ample means to perfect any undertaking which might conduce +to their health or comfort, and, it may be added also, which would +contribute to their luxurious mode of living. + +In the course of time, this first aqueduct proving to be inadequate to +the demand, a second one was added. The new iron supply pipes were laid +after the modern style,--that is, under ground; and as Valletta is +situated at a lower level than the springs from which the water is +derived, the arrangement works admirably. It is still necessary, as we +have said, to preserve all the rainwater possible, for domestic use. In +a climate like that of Malta, the consumption of water is much larger +per capita than is usually the case in more temperate regions. The +amount used for irrigating purposes alone is very large; the prevailing +fertility is to be attributed nearly as much to ample moisture as to the +free use of domestic refuse for enrichment of the soil. The average +annual rainfall is a little less than twenty-three inches, which would +be entirely insufficient to sustain vegetation without artificial +irrigation. + +It was thought that the dry, cracked soil of the pampas of Australia was +nearer to positive sterility than that of any known region; but when +water was flowed liberally over experimental portions, and the seed, was +planted without the application of any other fertilizer, in due time +"the soil laughed with a harvest." In China and Japan, the patient +husbandmen water their gardens, however extensive they may be, entirely +by hand, except the rice-fields, which, being planted in low and marshy +soil, are artificially flooded twice or three times each season. These +Asiatics have found that serving each individual plant in just +proportions produces grand results at harvest time. + +Before describing Valletta, the unique and fascinating capital of Malta, +in detail, we will ask the reader to accompany us to the adjacent island +of Gozo. In coming from the west it is seen before Malta proper, and in +point of historic remains is quite as interesting, while in natural +verdure it far excels the larger and more populous island, from which it +was doubtless detached by some great convulsion of nature in prehistoric +times. + +To reach Gozo from Valletta, a boat taken at Quarantine Harbor will land +the visitor at the shallow bay of Migiarro, on the southeastern +extremity of the island, amid a fleet of fishing-boats, hauled high and +dry upon the shelving strand. The boats are called _speronari_, and are +as buoyant and fleet as a sea-bird flying before the wind. They are +pointed at both ends, the prow terminating at a height of two feet above +the level of the thwarts. They have retained their peculiar shape for +centuries. It is always interesting to pause here for a few moments, to +take note of the abundance and excellence of the fish brought in by the +boatmen just arrived from their early morning excursion offshore. The +variety and redundancy of aquatic life in this latitude is something +marvelous. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + Homer's Fabled Siren.--Singular Topographical Formation in + Gozo.--Beautiful Island Groves.--Fertile Grain-Fields.-- + Flowering Hedges.--Aromatic Honey.--Herds of Goats.--A + Favorite Domestic Product.--Milk Supply.--Prolific Sheep. + --A Maltese Market.--Quail Shooting.--Rabbato, Capital of + Gozo.--The Old Citadel.--Lace Manufacture.--Prehistoric + Ruins.--The Giant's Tower.--Attractive Summer Resort.--Pagan + Worship. + + +Gozo, the fabled isle of Calypso, the Gaulos of the Greeks, the Gaulum +of the Romans, and the Ghaudex of the Arabs, with its rock-bound, +cave-indented shores, is oval in shape, and has the same general +characteristics as Malta, but is much more fertile. The undulating +surface of the island gives a casual observer the idea of its being a +hilly country, yet at only one place does it reach a height of over +three hundred feet above sea-level. This is at Dibiegi, where a hill +rises to an elevation of about seven hundred feet. When approached from +the sea, Gozo appears to lie much lower than Malta proper, and this is +really so. Through the early morning haze, both look like huge marine +monsters sleeping upon the surface of the waters. The hills we have +referred to are singularly conical, but are uniformly flattened at their +tops by the disintegrating process of the elements, causing them to +present the appearance of a myriad little volcanoes, though they are +very innocent of any such dreaded association. In the Hot Lake District +of New Zealand, near Ohinemutu, the author has seen a precisely similar +appearance, but in the latter instance the effect was undoubtedly +produced by volcanic action. The boiling springs, geysers, and hot lakes +of this New Zealand district are almost identical in character with our +Yellowstone Park phenomena. Both must be the result of smouldering fires +far below the surface of the earth. In the New Zealand district an +active volcano is near at hand, which often rages with destructive +force. + +Gozo is beautified with occasional groves of trees, which is an +adornment almost entirely wanting in the larger island. These groves, +however, are by no means numerous. The one great deficiency of the group +is the absence of arboreal vegetation, and yet an abundance of trees +could be made to grow and flourish here with very little effort. There +are marl beds which might be utilized for the purpose, situated in +various parts of the islands, besides which, the rocky formation of the +group, as we have shown, is of a porous nature, full of fissures and +crevices, easily admitting the roots of vegetation. There is a tradition +that Malta was once covered with trees, and that they were gradually +sacrificed to meet the demand for fuel and for other purposes. The +cultivation of shade trees about the villages would add an element of +beauty, and would afford needed shade, besides promoting a more liberal +rainfall, which is so very limited here. Some of the Grand Masters have +done much by their personal efforts to induce the planting of fruit and +ornamental trees in and about the city. Several of the squares are thus +beautified, the trees forming an agreeable shade where in midsummer the +glare is almost intolerable in exposed places. + +A modern survey shows the circumference of Gozo to be a trifle less than +twenty-five miles. It has been famous from time immemorial for the large +amount and the delicious quality of the honey which its inhabitants send +to market. The thriving fields of red-flowering clover, which is called +_sulla_ by the natives, and which grows to an average height of three +and a half feet, together with an abundance of wild thyme and purple +blooming vetch, afford rich food for the industrious bees and the gaudy +butterflies, "Yellow bees, so mad for love of early-blooming flowers." +The peculiar clover of which we speak is indigenous, and a well-grown +field, each upright stem surmounted by a large crimson flower, looks +more like cultivated roses than simple clover blossoms. When the breeze +sweeps gently over these fields, the eye is delighted by broad waves of +rich color rising and falling in the warm sunshine, while an +indescribable, ripe, harvest smell permeates the atmosphere. The +geranium grows to a mammoth size on this island, and tall, dense, and +secure hedges of it are not uncommon. In full bloom these form a most +striking feature of the landscape, as peculiar as the agave hedges of +Mexico. The former, when wearing their full-dress of scarlet, seem like +a fiery cordon drawn about the spacious area thus inclosed. The latter, +with their pale blue-green sword-like leaves, are as repellent as a line +of fixed bayonets, and absolutely impervious to man or beast. The byways +of the northwestern part of Gozo are delightful, verdant, and pastoral, +while the air is redolent of clover, violets, and hedge roses. + +One of the ancient titles of this island was Melita, a name which is +believed to be derived from the excellent honey which it has always +produced. We can honestly testify to the delightful aromatic flavor of +this delicate article. Truly, it is a land flowing with milk and +honey,--Melita, "Isle of Honey,"--its choice goat's milk being also a +staple commodity. As for butterflies, to which we have incidentally +referred, graceful, leisurely, aerial creatures, nowhere outside of +southern India can finer specimens of this beautiful and delicate insect +be found. An enthusiastic German naturalist in Valletta told the author +that he had secured a rich collection in Gozo, and that he was then on +his way to the little island of Filfla to reap a harvest in another +line, namely, among the curious lizard family, which thrive upon its few +square rods of rocky soil. + +Who ever traveled in out-of-the-way places abroad, without meeting some +quaint German naturalist, wearing a green woolen cap with an impossible +leather visor, a sort of Dominie Samson, in search of ugly centipedes, +stinging ants, extraordinary spiders, or other hideous bugs? These +"Innocents Abroad" are all alike, wearing gold-bowed spectacles, and +having a chronic disregard for clean linen. One can easily forgive the +butterfly enthusiast, these delightful, innocuous insects, exquisite in +their frailty and variety of colors, are so like animated flowers; but +pray spare us from poisonous bugs, with innumerable crooked legs. + +One has not far to go, after landing upon Gozo, before small flocks of +well-conditioned, silky-haired goats begin to appear, intelligent-looking +animals, with large, gazelle-like eyes and transparent ears. They are +generally tended by a barefooted lad or a young girl having the +slenderest amount of covering in the shape of clothes. These boys and +girls, nine or ten years of age, are often strikingly handsome, the +latter betraying a perfection of youthful promise as to form, distinctly +seen through their scanty rags. The boys have the blackest of black +eyes, and the brownest of brown skins, such as one sees among the Moors +who come into Tangier with the caravans arriving from Fez. These sheep +tenders would answer admirably as models for an artist, often +unconsciously assuming artistic poses, forming grand pictures, and +reminding one of the subjects which Murillo delighted in. The quiet +self-possession of these children of nature is both impressive and +significant. They are utterly untaught, but how graceful in every +movement! It would be as impossible for one of them to be awkward as for +a young kitten. Every attitude is statuesque and full of repose. They +have borrowed somewhat of the grandeur of their birthplace, bounded by +wide, untamed waters and limitless sky. As is often noticed among +European peasants thus employed, the girls are always supplied, though +never so young, with some knitting or crochet work which keeps their +fingers fully employed. In the populous centres, men may loaf in the +laziest fashion, and remain quite unemployed, unless it be in the +arduous occupation of smoking rank tobacco, but the women seem to be +instinctively busy at all times. + +We are reminded in this connection of another article of production for +which Gozo enjoys a certain and favorable reputation, namely, goat's +cheese, a delicate dairy compound, which should be eaten while it is +quite fresh. It is so well appreciated by the people of Valletta that +little, if any, of the article is ever exported, though choice packages +sometimes find their way to the larder of the P. & O. steamers, much to +the satisfaction of traveling gourmands. The goats raised upon this +island are of a breed which, it would appear, is specially adapted to +the local necessities, having singularly well-developed udders, which +reach nearly to the ground, and yielding milk profusely, while +subsisting upon the most common and inexpensive nourishment. Small herds +of these animals are driven by their owners about the streets of the +capital, and milked at the doors of the consumers, just as one witnesses +to-day in Paris and other continental cities. There is no chance for +adulteration when served after this fashion; and we all know that milk +challenges our credulity more seriously than nearly any other article +of domestic use, where water is so very cheap and accessible. + +Cows would require too much pasturage to be profitably kept on these +islands, whereas the hardy goats, as we have said, are cheaply fed and +easily managed. Sheep, which are kept here in considerable numbers, are +quite prolific, often having four lambs at a birth, and rarely less than +two. The cows and oxen which are imported are designed almost entirely +for food, though some few are employed for domestic or farming purposes. +Cattle come almost wholly from the Barbary States. These animals fatten +quickly upon the rich clover, which is so cheap and abundant here, thus +making excellent beef. Asses and mules are the chief means in use for +transportation, and as a rule they are very fine ones. We were told that +Malta-bred animals of this class were in special request throughout +southern Italy. The native owner has an Arab's fondness for his horse or +mule, feeds him abundantly, and cares for him kindly. Animals thus +reared naturally present a better appearance, show finer instincts, and +bring better prices. Those of Gozo are remarkable for their size and +docility. + +The gardens of this island supply the citizens of Valletta with nearly +all the vegetables which are required for daily use, together with +fowls, turkeys, and geese. Large quantities of green fodder come from +the same source for the sustenance of the animals kept for use in the +town. + +An interesting sight may be enjoyed by going into the principal market +of the capital of Malta, in the rear of the Grand Palace, at early +morning, where one can watch the various products, fodder, fruits, and +vegetables arriving from Gozo. The quantity and excellent condition of +the supply gives promise of good fare at the average tables of the +citizens. Various game birds are seen, also brought from the sister +isle, especially quails. This bird not only breeds freely in the Maltese +group, but comes hither at times from Algeria in large flocks, driven +thence by the close pursuit of the local sportsmen. The Tunisians make a +wholesale slaughter of the quails annually in the month of May, shipping +the game thus secured to France, it being a favorite bird with the +Parisian gourmands. In the mean time the people of Algeria complain of a +fearful increase of the all-devouring locusts, indigenous there, which, +when young, form the food supply of the quails. So all extremes outrage +some clearly-defined law of nature, and entail prompt punishment. +Doubtless the securing of a reasonable number of these birds would do no +harm; but when the pursuit is carried to the verge of extermination, +some penalty must follow. + +During the open season, as it is called, the officers of the British +garrison--desperately at a loss, it would seem, to find +amusement--resort to Gozo for quail shooting. There is also a certain +season of the year when a variety of ducks, plover, snipe, and other +aquatic birds may be taken. Only about a score of species of the +feathered tribe make their permanent home in the group; but there are +hundreds seen resting here from time to time, on their migratory course +to other climes. In stormy weather, dead birds are found at the base of +the big lighthouse on Gozo, attracted and half-dazed by the staring eye +of fire piercing the darkness of the night. When flying at great speed, +they are dashed fatally against the stout glass which shelters the +lantern. Similar occurrences are known in Massachusetts Bay, at the +lighthouse on Minot's Ledge, where the keeper is enabled to replenish +his larder with game birds after a hard blow at night. This lighthouse +at Guirdan, Gozo, dominates Cape Demetri, looming far heavenward when +observed from the sea, above which it stands four hundred feet, at once +gladdening and guiding the seamen in the nightwatches. + +An attempt was made to introduce hares into Gozo for sporting purposes; +but the residents of the island, with the dire experience of Australia +and New Zealand before them, protested against it, and fortunately +succeeded in averting the dreaded scourge. As is well known, the rabbit +pest in the two countries named has assumed such proportions as to defy +the combined efforts of the settlers to get rid of them. Every green +leaf and tender root which comes in their way is destroyed to appease +the hunger of these rabbits; and vegetation is as effectually +obliterated from the land as would be the case if visited by millions of +locusts. + +Let us review, for a moment, the geographical and topographical +character of this island. + +Gozo is situated off the northeast end of Malta, from which it is +separated by a deep channel, less than four miles wide, known as the +Straits of Freghi. The principal town and capital is Rabbato, a sleepy, +Old-World metropolis, of very little consequence to the outside world. +It has been named Victoria by the English. The place contains some five +or six thousand inhabitants, besides which there are nine thrifty, +though small, villages upon the island. Lace-making is the almost +universal occupation of the people of Rabbato and its vicinity. The +incessant clicking of the bobbins, driven by deft fingers, greets the +ear on all sides. Of course there is a "Calypso" Hotel ready to capture +the innocent tourist. It is worthy of note that this special industry of +fine lace-making should have prevailed so long in Gozo. For aught that +is known, it may have originated here. It is certain that its popularity +dates long prior to the Roman colonization in the Maltese group. Common +usage does not retain the title given to the capital in compliment to +Queen Victoria of England, and in honor of the Jubilee year. It is +popularly known, as it certainly should continue to be, by its original +name. + +Rabbato is situated very near the centre of the island, on one of a +group of conical hills. The citadel overlooking the place is partially +in ruins, but was once quite a substantial and extensive fortification, +being over half a mile in circumference. Whoever selected the spot as a +stronghold could hardly have realized that it was commanded by more +than one elevation in the immediate vicinity. Where its walls are not +raised upon the edge of a precipitous cliff, it is approached by very +steep stone steps, which could only be surmounted by an enemy under a +concentrated fire from several points. The place has a deep ditch after +the style of the Valletta fortifications, but this old stronghold is +rapidly crumbling to pieces. It was a mistake to select this spot for +the capital, if for no other reason than on account of the absence of a +good water supply. At the Bay of Marsa-el-Forno, near at hand, there is +not only a good harbor, but excellent drinking-water in abundance, while +the fertile soil makes a charmingly verdant neighborhood. There are some +delightful summer residences on the shore of this bay, the resort of +citizens who come hither from Valletta in the "heated term." Only those +foreigners whose official duties compel them to do so brave the summer +heat of Malta in the capital. The naval vessels which have wintered here +disperse to their several stations at that season, and invalids return +to England or elsewhere. + +Rabbato was chosen as the capital of Gozo for the same reason, +doubtless, that Madrid was made the seat of government for Spain, +because it was so nearly the exact centre of the country, while almost +every other recommendation is wanting in both instances. The same remark +applies to Citta Vecchia, the ancient capital of Malta proper. The small +city of Rabbato contains a couple of fairly good hotels, a Jesuit +college, a cathedral, and two or three convents. Without wishing to +discourage the curious traveler from doing so, we would suggest that +when he visits the capital of Gozo, he go prepared to repel an army of +mosquitoes. The neighborhood is famous for this insect pest. The guide, +native and to the manner born, remarked that they never troubled him, +but devoted their attention entirely to strangers, which affords no +consolation to the afflicted. + +The visitor finds in this neighborhood some very interesting +Phoenician and Roman remains, but mostly of the former and earlier +race of colonists upon the island. + +Among the antiquities is one very remarkable ruin known as La Torre de +Giganti, "the Giant's Tower," which is probably the remains of a +prehistoric sacred temple, whose builders bowed before the image of +Baal. The careful study of antiquarians points to the fact of its having +been formerly the temple of Astarte, the Phoenician Venus. There are +others who attribute this ancient monument to a people who inhabited the +group before the nomadic tribes of Tyre and Sidon formed a colony in +Malta. This singular edifice, be its original purpose what it may, is +constructed of stones laid in a very skillful manner, no mortar being +used. The builders must have possessed admirable and efficient tools; +there is evidence enough to prove this in the careful finish shown in +many places. They must also have used powerful machinery to properly +adjust such heavy blocks in place. The great antiquity of the Giant's +Tower is undisputed. Its style antedates both the Greek and the Roman +examples which have been spared to us, and it is plainly the work of a +primitive people. It is situated on an eminence not far from Casal +Shaara, and forms a large inclosure with walls of great thickness. In +shape it is a circular tower open at the top, not unlike the "Towers of +Silence" which form the Parsee edifices near Bombay used for the +disposal of the dead. In this tower at Gozo, doubtless, the rites of +fire were celebrated; human victims were probably sacrificed here, and +their bodies burned. Fire, it will be remembered, was the symbol under +which ancient tribes worshiped the sun. The character of this tower is +also emphasized by a carved serpent cut in the solid stone, an emblem of +religious veneration among the ancient people of the East. Egyptian gods +were often represented with the bodies of serpents. + +Even in our day, certain sects among the Japanese venerate this reptile +as sacred. In Benares, India, bulls, elephants, and monkeys are held to +be representatives of divinity. The author has seen in the Temple of +Honan, at Canton, China, a pen of "sacred" hogs! In the sincere struggle +to find some element as representative of the Great and Good, before +which to bow down and worship, for these singular devotional freaks seem +to be the outcome of such a purpose, one would think that the wildest +fanaticism must surely stop short of such excessive grossness. + +Touching this most interesting Gozo tower, which it is not unreasonable +to say may have stood here for some three thousand years, it shows that +the builders, whoever they were, did their work thoroughly. It is +entered by two massive doorways, twenty feet in height and five or six +wide. The interior is cut up into various apartments, the use of which +can only be conjectured. The diameter of the whole is about ninety feet, +a considerable portion being paved with large, hewn stones. The whole is +supported by a foundation which no earthquake has yet been able to +undermine, though, as we are aware, the island has experienced many +shocks. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + A Maltese Fishing Hamlet.--Old Fort Chambray.--A Grotto + shorn of Poetic Adornment.--The "Azure Window."--Bay of + Scilendi.--Pirates' Caves.--Prehistoric Bones and + Skeletons.--The Vast Changes of Land and Sea.--Suez + Canal.--Geological Matters.--Native Race of Arabic + Descent.--Curious Stone Mortars.--Primitive Artillery. + --Maltese Fungus.--Springtime.--Riches of the Harvest. + --Origin of the Island of Gozo. + + +The Bay of Migiarro, which means "the carting place," is the commercial +port of Gozo, so to dignify it, and was once considered of sufficient +importance to cause the Knights to erect a substantial stone tower or +fort for its defense. This is now in ruins, but the place has become a +busy and populous settlement, whose interests centre upon the fisheries +of this coast. The beach is a fine one, much resorted to for bathing +purposes. Close at hand, southward, is the grand cliff of Ras-el-Taffal, +a promontory nearly two hundred feet in height, crowned by old Fort +Chambray, which was named for the member of the brotherhood of St. John +whose liberality built it. He was a very rich Knight from Normandy, and +when he died, he left one fifth of his large estate to finish this +defensive work. The whole sum was required, and much more besides, to +complete the well-designed and elaborate fort. It was begun in 1749, and +was many years in course of construction, but it is now gradually +crumbling away, not being considered of importance. + +Notwithstanding their many ancient monuments, the object which seems to +be of the most interest to the inhabitants and to tourists is the Grotto +of Calypso. This is a rocky fissure on the northwestern shore of the +island, situated about a league from Rabbato, and is the spot where the +grotto is supposed to have existed. It is now only a simple limestone +cavern, presenting no peculiarities worthy of detail. It has the usual +stalactitic incrustations and developments, recalling the much more +extensive caves of the same nature which the traveler sees at Matanzas, +Cuba. It is quite isolated, but is constantly visited by small parties +from Valletta, who drink in romantic ideas from the associations of the +place, and refreshment from the clear, sparkling spring which meanders +through the cave of the defunct goddess,-- + + "The fair hair'd nymph with every beauty crown'd." + +While on the spot we seek in vain for those "verdant groves of alders +and poplars, the odoriferous cypresses," and for "the meadows clothed in +the livery of eternal spring," with which Homer poetically endowed the +voluptuous abode of the Siren whose name he has immortalized. The view +presented from the top of the hill crowning the location of the Grotto +of Calypso is well worth mentioning, overlooking the Bay of Melleha and +most of the island of Gozo, with Comino and Malta in the distance. The +surface of the surrounding sea is at all times sprinkled with busy +fishing craft, pleasure yachts, row-boats, and large hulls freighted +with a wealth of merchandise. + +In the neighborhood of Marsa-el-Forno, there is a stalagmitic cave of a +curious and interesting nature, which was discovered so late as 1888. It +is mainly situated under a field that lies close to the village church +of Sciara. This cave attracts large numbers of visitors to Gozo, and in +many respects is quite unique. It is eighty feet in length and sixty +wide, and contains a museum of curiosities which are the wonder and +admiration of all who behold them. When the cave is lighted by torches +or magnesium wire, the effect is extremely beautiful, the thousands of +crystalline stalactites suspended from the ceiling reflecting prismatic +colors of extraordinary brilliancy. It is indeed a fairy-like grotto, +much more worthy as a dwelling for Homer's nymph than the crude and +exposed cavern on the shore, already described. To one at all familiar +with these caves, which are found in various parts of the world, it is +no special marvel. These cavities are formed by the slow process of +well-understood chemical action, the active agent being the carbonic +acid gas which is held in solution by the rainwater that percolates +through the limestone roof of the cave. This acting upon the limestone +dissolves and conveys it away in liquid and gaseous forms. + +Not far from here is a curious natural stone arch on the shore, called +Tierka Zerka, that is, the "Azure Window," through which one may look +upon the sea as though it were an artificial opening set with clearest +glass. It very naturally recalled a somewhat similar freak of nature +which occurs on the island of Torghatten, off the coast of Norway, where +one gets a sort of telescopic view, through a stone tunnel five hundred +feet long, of the blue sea and the islands in range far beyond it. + +The next largest town to Rabbato is Casal Nadar, the only one on the +island whose population approximates in number to that of the capital. +This place is famous for the fruit which is raised in its neighborhood, +and especially for its excellent apples and choice ornamental trees. It +has nearly four thousand inhabitants. The cultivation of the land is +brought to a much higher standard here than in the larger island, but +the dwelling-houses are inferior to those of the villages of Malta +proper; and yet in estimating the general thrift of the country +population of the two islands, the result is decidedly in favor of Gozo. + +A pleasant drive of three or four miles from Rabbato, through a +garden-like region where poppies, clad in imperial scarlet, peep out +from among the hedges to delight the eye, brings one to the Bay of +Scilendi, whose perpendicular cliffs contain many rocky caves, few of +which, probably, have been explored within the memory of living +residents hereabouts. They are believed to have been, in olden times, +the rendezvous of corsairs, where their ill-gotten wealth was stored, +where they held their revels, and where their prisoners were confined +until they were sold into slavery at Constantinople, or on the Barbary +coast. The manifest fertility of the soil lying between here and the +capital is owing principally to the irrigating capacity of several +invaluable and never-failing springs of pure water with which this +region has been exceptionally favored. The tangled masses of kelp and +seaweed, which constantly accumulate on the shore, are regularly +collected by the thrifty natives and liberally applied to the land as a +fertilizer. This material, becoming duly decomposed, imparts its rich +chemical properties to the soil, and thus repays the laborer tenfold. + +Malta has been pronounced by an act of the English Parliament as +belonging to Europe, but the fact that the stratification of the +southern part of the island corresponds exactly with that of the coast +of Barbary indicates a similar origin. Ptolemy thought it was African, +but Pliny gives it to the Italian coast. Geologists of our day not only +believe that the Maltese group was once a part of Sicily, but that in +the far past it was also joined to Africa. In evidence of this +deduction, carefully prepared maps of soundings taken between the +islands and the continent on either side of the group are produced, +while in the soil of both Sicily and Malta the skeletons of hyenas and +other animals indigenous to Africa are frequently to be found, besides +other fossil remains indicating a like conclusion. If this supposition +be correct, how great must have been the changes which have taken place +in the physical geography of southern Europe and Malta! What a general +upheaval and subsidence must have agitated this famous sea in the remote +past! That important topographical changes have taken place in these +waters and in their relative connection with the land during historic +times is well known. A little more than two thousand years ago, the +Mediterranean and the Red Sea were united. De Lesseps' canal was no new +proposition. Nature had already half done the work by means of the +Bitter Lakes, and the modern engineer had only to restore a connection +which time had destroyed. + +Among many other interesting fossil bones, teeth, and complete skeletons +unearthed at Gozo by naturalists, those of a pygmy species of elephants +were found, which must have stood but about four feet in height; these +were manifestly of African origin. The Ceylon elephant is distinctly +different, in size and in several other features. The latter is the +species universally met with in India, the beautiful island named having +yielded a regular supply to this country from time immemorial. + +Dr. Andrew Leith Adams, a distinguished English surgeon and naturalist, +who resided for a period of several years in Malta, found fossil bones +and teeth of hippopotami in various parts of the group. He says in a +published account that he "unearthed hundreds of elephant's teeth, +together with those of other tropical animals." He also discovered, in +caves on the south side of the larger island, vestiges of aquatic birds +of a species now extinct, and which in life must have been larger than +the swan of our day. The presence of such remains indicates a great +change of climatic conditions between the far past and the present time. +It is difficult to imagine that Malta was ever the native land of +elephants and sea-horses, but Dr. Adams shows, at least to his own +satisfaction, that it was once covered with a productive soil and +luxuriant vegetation. According to the same authority, it must have had +lakes, rivers, and lagoons; trees and shrubs must have flourished in +profusion, and it was doubtless part of a land the principal portion of +which is now hidden beneath the surging waters of the Mediterranean. + +Some of the most remarkable of Dr. Adams' discoveries were made in the +neighborhood of the village of Melleha, north of St. Paul's Bay, on the +principal island of the group. Here, in the sides of the ravine below +the hamlet, are numerous caves of various sizes, both natural and +artificial. Some of these are thought to be Phoenician tombs, as lamps +and lachrymatories have been found in them. A few of these caves are now +occupied by Maltese as dwellings. The village of Melleha has a very +ancient church, partly excavated in the solid rock, which is held in +great veneration, as it is said to have been consecrated by the Apostle +Paul. It contains a very ancient picture of the Virgin, believed to have +been painted by St. Luke! Penitential pilgrims come from all parts of +the group to kneel and pray in this church, a service which, according +to the local priests, carries with it absolution for any amount of sin +and wickedness. It is needless to say that a good round fee is also +contingent thereon. + +The inhabitants of Gozo are, as a rule, thrifty, frugal, and +industrious; the gipsy-like dark-haired women, who almost invariably +have the charm of large, brilliantly expressive eyes, and even the young +children, devote themselves assiduously to making the famous Maltese +lace, for which a ready and profitable market always exists in European +and American cities, especially for the finer quality and more delicate +designs. Thus employed, for many hours of the day, they are often seen +in family groups, seated by the doors of their humble dwellings,--small, +massive, square stone buildings,--singing quaint old songs and gossiping +together. Strangers visiting these districts almost always carry away +with them, as souvenirs, specimens of this choice article, which has a +reputation all over Christendom. The collection of crown laces belonging +to the Queen of Italy contains specimens of Maltese lace reputed to be +five centuries old, while photographs of objects found in Egyptian tombs +date back the history of this delicate fabric to a thousand years or +more before Christ. A choice pattern manufactured from a new material is +now being made at Gozo, in small quantities. The basis is a peculiar +sort of white silk. The completed fabric of this style is costly, and +comes very near to the texture of a spider's web. + +The Gozitans speak a language which differs somewhat from that common +in Malta proper, and which is generally considered to be a pure native +tongue, resembling the Arabic much more closely than does the mixed and +confusing dialect of the larger island. The names of places, persons, +monuments, household utensils, animals, and articles of food are all +Arabic pure and simple. It is curious to realize that this people should +have succeeded in keeping aloof from their conquerors so as not only to +retain their own language in its purity, but also their personal +resemblance to their Mohammedan ancestors. Their complexions are almost +as dark as those of the natives of Barbary. Sometimes one detects a +tendency to protruding lips and flat noses. When the Knights of St. John +took possession of Malta, they found the islanders universally +professing the Roman Catholic religion, but yet entirely governed by +Arab forms and customs. Their constant intercourse with the Barbary +States probably served to confirm them in these inherited proclivities. + +At several points on the shore of Gozo where the attempt of an enemy to +land might be possible, the Knights during their early sovereignty +improvised a sort of ordnance called an earth mortar, after the +following process. A hole of the proper dimensions was cut or drilled in +the solid rock, at a certain angle trending towards the shore, designed +to hold a hundred pounds of gunpowder. The explosive was placed at the +bottom, and after a proper fuse was connected therewith, it was covered +with a layer of boards to act as a sort of wadding. Upon the boards a +ton or more of stones and rocks were placed, which completed the charge. +On the approach of an enemy, which would necessarily be by boats, the +fuse could be promptly ignited, and a wild discharge of rocks would at +once take place, sending the missiles high into the air at an angle +which would drop them upon the approaching enemy. These stones, falling +with destructive force upon the boats and upon those who were in them, +would scatter death and confusion in their ranks. We have never heard of +such a device put in practice elsewhere, but should imagine that it +would prove efficacious in a rude way to defend an exposed seacoast. A +large or even a small stone descending from a considerable height, under +such circumstances, would be sure, if it fell in a boat, to go through +its bottom, causing it to fill at once, and would be equally fatal if +falling upon the heads or bodies of human beings. The rock, which is of +the nature already described, admitted of being easily hewn into such +shape as was desired, while exposure to the atmosphere soon hardened it +to the required consistency and resisting power. A second discharge of +such a mortar might possibly involve as much danger to the defenders as +to the enemy. It must be remembered that at this period, between three +and four hundred years ago, the use of artillery was comparatively in +its infancy, and iron mortars, when they were procurable, were of the +crudest manufacture. + +As forming a contrast to those days, and to the present means of +conducting offensive and defensive warfare, it may be appropriate to +mention that the author happened to be at Gibraltar not long ago, when a +hundred-ton cannon was landed there. With this extraordinary piece of +ordnance, it was believed that an effectual shot might be fired across +the strait to Africa! As it is at least twenty miles from the Fortress +of the Rock to the opposite coast, we took the declaration of the +artillerist who expressed this opinion of the power of the gun with +considerable allowance. + +Hagar Tal Girnal--the "General's Rock"--is the name of a small, +outlying, and nearly inaccessible ledge off the shore of Gozo, upon +which there still grows in profusion, springing from the crevices of the +rock, the curious plant known to botanists as _Fungus Melitensis_, +Maltese fungus. This was so highly prized by the Knights of St. John as +to be most carefully gathered in its prime, dried in the sun, and +preserved as a stancher of blood in case of dangerous wounds, and also +for the suppression of internal hemorrhage. Indeed, the fungus was +believed to possess a variety of valuable medicinal properties. Small +packages of it were sent annually by the Knights as precious gifts to +the European potentates, it being equally prized by the recipients, who +believed it to be otherwise unattainable. It is certainly a very simple +weed, which is in flower about the last of April. When fresh it is of a +dark red color, like our sorrel, and is of a spongy softness, but it is +no longer held in such high repute either as an internal medicine or as +an efficacious dressing for wounds. The famous rock is now seldom, if +ever, trodden by the foot of man. It was always difficult of access in +rough weather, though it is hardly a hundred yards from the mainland. +The nearest village to the General's Rock is Casal Garbo. The people of +the neighborhood declare that the famous fungus grows exclusively on +this rock, but this assertion is not correct, as we have seen it in +bloom on the Mediterranean shore at Leghorn, Tunis, and elsewhere. + +The language of the people round about Casal Garbo differs somewhat from +that which prevails in the rest of the island, seeming to be more Hebrew +than Arabic. It is certainly far from being the latter tongue. This fact +has given rise to many suppositions and learned discussions. We were +told that the subject was to be carefully investigated by a committee of +scientists, linguists, and archaeologists who were specially interested. + +One hears about an important alabaster quarry, situated in the +northwestern part of Gozo, but the author did not visit it. There are +said to be ample evidences of its having been worked in an intelligent +manner centuries ago, even before the Roman period, if the indications +are rightly interpreted. Among so many nationalities as have at sundry +times held possession of this group, it is a very nice distinction to +attribute this or that work to any special one. + +It has been mentioned that the island of Gozo is much more fertile than +Malta proper, though why this should actually be so it would be +difficult to explain. There is less rocky surface and more natural soil +in the former than in the latter. This is realized at a glance. Certain +it is that so far as verdure is concerned, the daisies and the +dandelions appear and the grassy lanes of Gozo are aglow with vernal +ripeness early in February, while the more drowsy soil of Malta does not +awaken until the middle of March. Springtime is the season of the year +when the earth sends forth her choicest treasures, even in this +semi-tropical, Mediterranean clime,-- + + "Hanging her infant blossoms on the trees." + +The deep purple vetch which enamels the fields of the islands, +especially in Gozo, is beautified by the scarlet poppies which Nature +sprinkles here and there with dainty fingers, producing vivid gleams of +color in strong and pleasing contrast with the surroundings. Sometimes +the ripening wheat-fields are made lovely after the same winsome manner. + +The rich development and beauty of the tall, stout clover at this early +period of the year is particularly noticeable, giving promise of a +wealth of harvests calculated to gladden the husbandman's heart, while +taxing the industry of the bees from dawn to twilight. We know of but +few vegetable products which so richly repay the cultivators as this +Maltese clover. Surely writers are not authorized to speak of this group +of islands in mid-sea, with all these facts before them, as consisting +mainly of a series of bare, weather-beaten rocks. Why mock and mislead +us by such misrepresentations? In the wildest and least cultivated +districts of Gozo, rosemary and thyme may be seen, showing that regal +Nature has her poetic moods even under adverse circumstances, and that +she often indulges her fancy in lonely places without regard to the cold +appreciation of heedless human eyes, sometimes in her charming caprice +outdoing more labored and artistic methods. "You will find something far +greater in the woods than you will find in books," says St. Bernard. + +Regarding the origin of Gozo, Comino, and Malta, we have seen that +authorities differ materially. As if still more completely to mystify us +upon the subject, Borzesi, a Maltese writer of considerable ability, has +seriously attempted to prove that the group is formed of the summits of +mountains belonging to the lost land of Atalantis. Signor Grougnet, of +Valletta, had formerly in his possession a stone which was dug up from +among some ruins near the old capital of Citta Vecchia, in 1826, on +which was an inscription describing Atalantis, and another to the effect +that the Consul Tiberius Sempronius, in the year of Rome 536, ordered +the preservation of this stone. This is either an adroitly conceived +canard, or it is a suggestion worthy the attention of students of +antiquity. + +Bidding farewell for a time to Gozo, let us now recross the Straits of +Freghi to Malta proper, there to enjoy the unequaled attractions and +delights of beautiful Valletta. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + Valletta, Capital of Malta.--A Unique City.--Bright Faces, + Flowers, and Sunshine.--Architecture.--L'Isle Adam and La + Vallette, Grand Masters.--Mount Sceberris.--Stone Dwelling- + Houses.--Streets of the Capital.--A Specialty.--Fancy Goods + Merchants.--The Yacht Sunbeam.--Main Street of the City.--A + Grand Opera House.--A St. Giles in Malta.--Strada Santa + Lucia.--Street of Stairs.--Thoroughfares.--The Military + Hospital.--Characteristic Street Scenes.--Emigration. + + +As the Grand Harbor of Malta is entered and the white battlements of +forts St. Elmo and Ricasoli are passed, one realizes the vast importance +of the situation. Those heavy guns rising tier upon tier are silent now, +but they are capable of doing fearful execution upon an approaching +enemy. Probably the access to no other seaport in the world is more +powerfully defended, unless it be that of Cronstadt, guarding the mouth +of the Neva and the passage leading up to the city of St. Petersburg. +Let us hope that such armaments may prove to be preventives and not +incentives to warfare. "How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds make +deeds ill done!" This is very true, and yet being prepared, fully +prepared, for it has doubtless often prevented war. It is calculated +that twenty-five thousand men would be required to properly man these +defensive works which hem about the town. + +Few persons visiting this capital for the first time are prepared, on +landing at the broad stone steps near the Custom House, to find in this +isolated place a large and beautiful city whose historic associations +and architectural charms so admirably harmonize. Valletta is a genuine +surprise. Whatever preconceived idea the stranger may have formed +concerning it, he can hardly have approximated to the truth. Unique and +mystical, it constantly appeals in some new form to the imagination. It +strikes one at first as somewhat too pretentious in its endless +fortifications, palaces, hospitals, churches, public institutions, +theatres, and population, for a place so circumscribed geographically, +and of such seeming commercial unimportance. It will appear, presently, +as we progress in our Story of Malta, why and how such a full-fledged +city should have sprung, Minerva-like, into complete existence, without +experiencing the throes of incipient childhood, and the slow-ripening +capacities of maturity. + +The capital is well-built in solid masses of dwellings, presenting an +unmistakable air of prosperity. One is reminded here and there of +Oriental Tangier, with a suggestion of scenes borrowed from Spanish +Granada. There are fascinating combinations everywhere, a succession of +attractive novelties and surprises constantly greeting the eye. The town +seems to be full of sunshine, of bright faces, and of flowers; at least +it is so here on the Strada Reale. Everybody is gay and animated. The +fountains laugh with rippling melody in the warm atmosphere, and the +blossoms on the fruit trees are more lovely and fragrant than the +bouquets which the pretty Maltese girls offer at such minimum prices. +There is a rich and constant glow of shifting color, the yellow +buildings reflecting light like burnished gold. + +Surely it is good to be here, good to behold this charming phase of +foreign life, and to contrast it with other scenes more famous but far +less attractive. Paris is said to be the city of art and poetry, but +Valletta embodies both within itself, adding a third allurement as being +the city of romance and vivid history, which leaves upon the visitor's +brain a memorable vision of light, life, and color. + +Lord Beaconsfield wrote of Valletta as being equal in its architecture +to any capital in Europe, but this is an exaggeration, and is incorrect. +It may, however, be fairly said to vie with any town on the shores of +the Mediterranean for the elegance of its construction and its general +effect. "If that fair city," says the authority which we have just +quoted, "with its streets of palaces, its picturesque forts and +magnificent church (that of St. John), only crowned some green and azure +island of the Ionian Sea, Corfu, for instance, I really think that the +ideal of landscape would be realized." + +The prevailing style of the edifices is Italian and Moorish combined, +quite appropriate to the climate and habits of the people. The Knights +are said to have brought with them from Rhodes the style of building +which has been uniformly adopted here. The palaces now seen in the +capital of Malta are reproductions of those left in the former home of +the order, that "Garden of the Levant." There is an unmistakable flavor +of the Orient in nearly everything which the fraternity brought hither +from Rhodes, even extending, in no small degree, to their domestic +affairs, manners, and customs. Valletta, including the immediate suburb +of Floriana, is about two miles long and nearly a mile in width. After +Venice we know of no other city more strongly individualized or more +thoroughly mediaeval. There is no other capital with which it can +reasonably be compared; it stands quite alone, a populous city and +citadel combined. Like Gibraltar in purpose, it is as unlike that +far-famed rocky fortress and town as can well be conceived. It was +founded in 1566, by Jean de La Vallette, forty-fourth Grand Master of +the Knights of St. John, whose statue, together with that of the brave +and gallant L'Isle Adam, who preceded him in the important office, is to +be seen over the Porta Reale. The latter was the able defender of +Rhodes, the former was the hero of the great siege of Malta, in 1565. + +Concerning the lives and achievements of both these remarkable historic +characters, we shall have occasion to speak more in detail as we +progress with our narrative. + +The title proposed for the new capital by its founder was quite +characteristic of the man and the priest. It was _Umilissima_, that is, +"the humblest," but those who succeeded the Grand Master, and who +faithfully carried out nearly all of his many purposes, saw the eminent +propriety of calling it after his own name, and thus it became a fitting +and lasting monument to his memory. La Vallette died in 1568, after a +most remarkable and eventful career. In briefly reviewing his character, +we find many contradictory traits. He was brave, but cruel; a warm and +loyal friend, and yet a most determined and rigid disciplinarian with +one and all. Only the renowned pirate chief, Admiral Dragut, who was his +contemporary, exceeded him in terrible deeds of warfare, and yet he was +always profoundly devout in his religious instincts, and specially +observant of all the Romish church ceremonials and requirements. He is +believed to have lived more in accordance with his religious vows than +did nine tenths of the brotherhood over whom he presided. The Knights +often curbed their vicious and licentious inclinations, checked by the +force of his judicious example. He fearlessly led his people in every +great contest, whether at sea, when he was commander-in-chief of the +galleys, or on land, when contending with the Turks in a fierce +hand-to-hand conflict. Being a powerful man physically and an expert +swordsman, his flashing weapon dealt terrible execution wherever he +appeared. He bore upon his body many scars which had been received in +the van of battle, while gallantly fighting the infidel hosts for more +than forty years: first in Rhodes under L'Isle Adam, afterwards upon the +sea in the galleons of the order, finally and victoriously at Malta, +where his management of the great siege placed him in the foremost rank +of successful generals. This was the crowning heroic deed of his life. +La Vallette was unquestionably the grandest of the Grand Masters of the +order. + +The original plan of the city of Valletta was not consummated until +1571, under the Grand Master Pietro del Monte, successor to Vallette, +who imported masons and artisans of all sorts in great numbers from +Sicily and Italy for this purpose. The original design was to cut down +the ridge of rocks which form Mount Sceberris, upon which the city now +stands, thus forming a plain only a few feet above the level of the +Mediterranean. But this idea was abandoned as involving too much time +and expense, and also on account of news received by the Grand Master +from his spies at Constantinople, to the effect that another expedition +was fitting out there to attack the island. So the new capital was +finally built upon the sloping ridge which makes the natural +conformation of the peninsula, rendering it necessary to build the +lateral streets into stairways in place of roadways. Nevertheless, it is +to-day the most attractive and interesting small city we have ever +visited. + +Mount Sceberris is an Arabic name, signifying "the jutting out of the +cape." Like Asiatic names generally, it is very appropriate. Primitive +races have a happy inspiration in this direction. Minnehaha, "laughing +water," is an instance of apt and descriptive nomenclature born in the +brain of uncultured Dakota Indians. The highest point of the city +foundations is about two hundred feet above the level of the sea, into +which it projects considerably over three hundred yards, with a width of +twelve hundred, though it narrows at its seaward extremity and is lowest +where it joins the line of the mainland. The fort of St. Elmo--the +patron saint of mariners--crowns the narrowed point of the peninsula +seaward. + +The streets, running at right angles, divide the buildings into large, +quadrangular groups. The houses, which are all flat-roofed, are guarded +by low parapets, and are universally built of stone picturesquely +carved, and ornamented by balconies of all sizes and patterns. The +native stone masons are natural artists in the carving of stone. There +is something in the very air of Italy, so close at hand, which engenders +artistic taste even among the common people. + +Within the dwellings, the rooms are quite large and lofty, insuring good +ventilation. The floors, even to the upper stories, are composed of the +same material as the main structure. This cream-colored stone is the +outcrop of the latest geological period. The facility for obtaining this +material where the whole island might be worked as a stone quarry has +led to its general adaptation. It will be remembered that all wood, for +whatever use designed, must be imported. Charcoal is used for cooking +purposes, and so is anthracite coal. Wood is even more expensive than in +Paris. The dwellings front upon thoroughfares of fairly good width, +which are well paved and kept scrupulously neat and clean. When the +building stone of which the houses are constructed is quarried, it is so +soft that it can be easily moulded, or rather carved, into almost any +desired shape, but exposure to the atmosphere hardens it gradually to +the consistency of our American freestone. When newly quarried it is a +light yellow, and under the midday sunlight it is somewhat trying to the +eyes. Age tones down this effect to a sombre buff hue. It is found that +exposure to the atmosphere, which at first hardens this stone, in the +lapse of time causes the surface to peel off, or in other words a slow +process of disintegration takes place, which gives, by the mouldering +away of the surface of the stone, an appearance of great age. Any one +who has noticed the action of frost upon brown freestone in our New +England climate has a familiar example of what we describe. + +The streets which run up the steep hillsides upon which the city is +terraced have broad stone steps by which they may be ascended, but are +quite inaccessible to wheeled vehicles, forming a sort of "Jacob's +ladder," more picturesque than comfortable for one having to surmount +them. The simile does not hold good as to angelic spirits ascending and +descending, as those who are thus occupied here are very decidedly of +mundane origin. These curious streets of stairs, over which Byron grew +profane, with their quaint overhanging balconies, and life-size saints +presiding at each corner, are indeed unique. Strada Santa Lucia, Strada +San Giovanni, and Strada San Domenicho are among these, with their gay +little shops opening upon the steps, while about the doors linger small +groups of gossiping customers. These lateral streets are of easy grade, +and if one does not hurry too much in coming up from the water front, +they will safely land him at last on a level with the Strada Reale. It +is easy to imagine one's self, for a moment, amid these curious +surroundings, spirited away to another sphere, to some distant bourne +whence travelers do not return to write books. At Bahia, in Brazil, the +public ascend from the lower to the upper town, some two hundred +perpendicular feet, by means of an elevator. Why might not Valletta be +thus supplied? + +The principal thoroughfare is the Strada Reale, lined on either side +with attractive shops, which display choice fancy goods, jewelry, silks, +photographs, gold and silver filigree work, and rich old lace. The +goldsmiths of Malta are justly praised for the excellence of their work, +original in design and exquisite in its finish. The ornamental articles +of web-like silver are nowhere else produced in greater perfection. They +recall the silver work found at Trichinopoli, India, the product of the +natives there, and the more familiar manufacture of Genoa. The Maltese +women are particularly skillful in the embroidery of muslin, and the +scarfs and shawls which they produce are not inferior to the best which +come from Turkey. They are often sold to foreigners as the work of +Constantinople artists. We say artists, for these goods are as much a +work of art as any piece of statuary, or a well-finished oil painting. +One other specialty must not be forgotten, for which Valletta is noted +just as that Rhine city of cathedral fame is for cologne. A preparation +of orange-flower water is distilled here, which constitutes a most +delightful perfume, very popular with strangers. It is a choice +delicacy, suitable for many purposes. A wine-glass of this distillation +added to a bathing-tub of warm water makes a bath fit for the gods, +having an excellent effect upon the skin, opening the pores, and +removing all foreign matter. + +The shops on the Strada Reale are liberally patronized by visitors to +the island, nearly all of whom are desirous of carrying away with them +some attractive souvenir of Malta. It is computed that the passengers by +each P. & O. steamship which stops at the port on its way east or west +leave on an average five or six hundred dollars distributed among the +fancy goods merchants, and we should say this is a very moderate +estimate. A considerable amount of money is also expended by the owners +of private steam and sailing yachts, which are constantly arriving at or +departing from Valletta. The purchases of this latter class of customers +are often of the most lavish character. A storekeeper on this +thoroughfare told the author that the late Lady Brassey purchased goods +costing her a thousand pounds sterling, during the few days in which the +Sunbeam lay in the harbor. It is hardly necessary to remark that these +accommodating and enterprising merchants do not part with their goods +without realizing a handsome profit. There is a familiar saying among +the English residents in the island to the effect that "a Gibraltar Jew +starves alongside of a Maltese tradesman;" and still another, quite as +significant, to this effect: "It takes seven Jews to cheat one Maltese." + +It is well to remember one characteristic of the mode of doing business +here. As in most of the Eastern bazaars, and also in the shops of Spain +and Italy, the local merchant does not expect the purchaser of his goods +to pay the first price which he names for them. It is often the case +that he is quite prepared to sell at fifty per cent. less. A certain +amount of dickering seems to be considered necessary, and it is in fact +the life of trade in Valletta and Alexandria. The dealer, after he has +specified the price of any given article, regards the customer with an +air of serene indifference, as though it did not matter to him in the +least whether he sells his goods or not. All the while, however, he is +secretly exercised by an intense anxiety lest you should not purchase. +If one really desires an article, it is pretty safe to offer half the +sum which is at first demanded, and nine times in ten it will consummate +the bargain. It is an illegitimate mode of doing business, but one which +is common in many parts of the world. + +Speaking of the yacht Sunbeam recalls some pleasant memories. It has +been the author's privilege to meet that graceful craft in various +foreign ports, and to have known its cultured mistress. The last time he +saw this white-hulled rover was in the harbor of Sidney, Australia. It +was on the passage thence that Lady Brassey died of malarial fever, and +was buried in the bosom of the ocean which she loved so well. Lord +Brassey, who is an excellent seaman and practical navigator, fully +shared with his accomplished companion this fondness for ocean +adventure. The cabin of the Sunbeam was fitted with all the accessories +of a lady's boudoir, and with charming good taste. It was a veritable +museum of choice bricabrac, not an article of which was without its +pleasant association, a token to stimulate agreeable memories. One who +wrote so delightfully of her foreign experiences could not fail to draw +inspiration from such surroundings. All parts of the known world had +contributed to the adornment of her cabin, including domestic articles +from the South Sea Islands, Fiji weapons, African symbols, Samoan +curiosities, Chinese idols and oddities, Japanese screens, and Satsuma +ware of rarest beauty. + +Let us not wander too far afield. We were speaking of the main +thoroughfare of Valletta. + +This central street, which runs very nearly north and south, contains a +number of fairly good hotels, three or four banks, besides several good +restaurants and boarding-houses. It is a favorite promenade, day and +evening, being well lighted by gas. A large and imposing opera house of +the Grecian order is situated at the highest point of the Strada Reale, +near to the Porta Reale,--"Royal Gate." The elaborate edifice is finely +ornamented with Corinthian columns. If its traditions are correct, +Adelina Patti made her debut at this house. Patti was then quite +unknown, and is said to have received one pound sterling for her part of +the performance on the occasion; to-day she realizes one thousand pounds +sterling for a similar service in America. Though her voice evinces the +corroding power of time, she is unquestionably queen of the operatic +stage. That there is excellent music dispensed at this fine Maltese +opera house one can easily believe, remembering the proximity of the +land of song. The edifice was originally built in 1864, but was +partially destroyed by fire in 1873, a fate which seems sooner or later +to befall all such places of amusement. It was promptly rebuilt, with +many and costly improvements, so that it is now as complete an operatic +establishment as those of Naples and Milan. It cost the Maltese +exchequer over fifty thousand pounds sterling. So elaborate and +pretentious a structure to be devoted to this purpose was hardly +demanded in a community of the proportions of Valletta, and +consequently, when the full amount of its cost was made public, there +was considerable fault found with those officials who were responsible +for such lavish outlay of the public funds. The opera season is from the +middle of October to the middle of May, the performances being given +three times each week. There is another theatre close to the square of +St. George, known as the Teatro Manoel. This is a much older though +quite as popular a place of amusement, and antedates the grand opera +house a full century. + +The edifices on the Strada Reale are generally three stories high, many +of them large and luxuriously planned. They are mostly occupied as +dwelling-houses above the first floor, the latter being usually devoted +to some sort of shop. When they are not improved for this purpose, the +lower windows are guarded with large, protruding iron bars, such as are +commonly seen in the cities of Italy,--more suggestive than ornamental. +It is probably custom rather than necessity which prompts to this +fashion. There is a certain incongruity in passing through a populous +thoroughfare where the lower windows are thus barricaded, while bright +children and happy family groups are visible behind the frowning bars. +There is no absolute danger of mistaking these residences for prisons or +insane asylums. + +The taste displayed in the architecture upon the Strada Reale makes it +both quaint and beautiful; though it is very irregular in expression and +after no fixed order, still it is not without a certain fascination and +harmony of general effect. The facades exhibit here and there curious +armorial bearings, emblems of their former knightly occupants, but +atmospheric influences are gradually obliterating these interesting +mementoes. Many were purposely effaced by the French during their brief +mastership, who waged a bitter warfare against all titles or insignia +representative of other than military rank. Judging by this immediate +neighborhood alone, one would surmise that the town was especially +cleanly and quite devoid of low or miserable quarters; but that there +are vile, unwholesome dens here, where decency is entirely lost sight +of, in certain lanes, narrow streets, and out-of-the-way places, no one +can deny. So it is in all large capitals. Are New York, Boston, and +Chicago entirely exempt from such conditions? We do not agree, however, +with those who have given Malta a specially bad name in this respect. +There is a section of the town leading from the Strada Forni, known as +the _Manderaggio_, which signifies "a place for cattle," where the poor +and needy of the lowest class herd together like animals. Why some +deadly disease does not break forth and sweep away the people is a +mystery. Yet even this questionable neighborhood is no worse in its +debasement than the Five Points of New York used to be within the +writer's memory. There can be no reasonable doubt that the average +condition of the place, as regards morality, is of a far more desirable +character than it was during the sovereignty of the famous--we had +almost written infamous--Knights, whose priestly harems were simply +notorious, and whose dissolute lives were unrestrained by law or +self-respect. One thing we can confidently assert: there is nothing here +so vile and so grossly immoral as Chinatown in San Francisco, and +nothing worse than may be seen any day in St. Giles's, London, or the +Latin Quarter of Paris. + +How closely the lines of civilization and of barbarism intersect each +other in all populous centres! + +Valletta is well policed; rowdiness does not obtrude itself upon the +stranger. Even the annoying importunities of the beggars in some parts +of the town are not carried beyond the bounds of respectful, though +earnest solicitation. + +Along the course of the Strada Reale,--the Broadway of the +capital,--which the French called, after the style of that period, Rue +des Droits de l'Homme, at the corners where the cross-streets intersect +it, graceful little kiosks are erected, painted in fanciful colors, +whose occupants, like those seen upon the Parisian boulevards and the +busy thoroughfares of Rio Janeiro, sell flowers, bonbons, coffee, fruit, +and newspapers. The pretty Maltese girls, with dark, brilliant, +beseeching eyes, who preside in these kiosks, are natural coquettes. +Like the occupants of the tall booths in the flower market of +Marseilles, coquetry is a most available part of their stock in trade. A +winning smile will sell a bouquet more readily than the most eloquent +oral appeal. These flower girls are kept quite busy making up and +disposing of buttonhole bouquets at certain hours of the day, to adorn +strangers and native dudes, from whose presence no locality is quite +exempt. + +This main avenue is the highest street in the city, and runs along the +crest of the hill upon which Valletta is situated. The site gives the +place natural facility for drainage, and the sanitary conditions seem to +be excellent. Every one agrees that the capital is a healthy one, all +things considered. + +Let us enter, for a moment, one of the dwellings on the main +thoroughfare, and leave behind the hot sunshine, which seems striving to +set everything on fire in the Strada Reale. + +Passing in through a lofty vestibule leading to an open court or patio, +as the Spaniards call it, we come upon a maze of flowering shrubs, small +orange-trees in boxes, and other floral charms. A miniature fountain in +the centre of the area is very busy in sustaining at the apex of its +tiny stream a hollow glass ball of vivid hue, an innocent act of aquatic +legerdemain. The air is perfumed with fragrant flowers, and there is a +cooling sensation in the gurgle of the fountain. There rises from this +area a winding stone stairway, conducting to a gallery, from which +doorways lead into the several apartments. These rooms can be thrown +together so as to give the effect of a large hall, by opening the wide +connecting doors. The apartments are spacious and lofty, being at least +twelve or fifteen feet in height. There is not much in the way of +furniture to describe in this reception-room which we have entered, +which typifies the rest. It is lined with comfortable divans, and the +glazed tiles of the floor are covered here and there with small Persian +rugs. A few quaint old portraits of the Knights of St. John hang upon +the walls, grim and ghostly in their expression, together with a large +oval mirror of Venetian make. A lesser one hangs opposite, which plays +queer tricks with the faces and figures presented to its glistening +surface. A spacious table of dark wood occupies the centre of this +spacious room, having four or five antique chairs with tall backs ranged +beside it. There are no books, no small articles of bricabrac to be +seen, and there is a sense of emptiness and bareness which oppresses +one. It must have been the residence of some bachelor Knight, say a +hundred years ago; to-day it is a boarding-house. Out of this large room +a bay window or balcony opens, containing a mass of fragrant flowers +gracefully disposed, showing a woman's taste and a woman's hand. Such is +a Maltese drawing-room on the Strada Reale. One can take an apartment +here and dine at a neighboring restaurant, and live very cheaply, if +economy be a special object. + +Each of the steep, narrow passageways which run down to the water's edge +from the Strada Reale bears the name of some patron saint. Strada Santa +Lucia is a typical street of this character, with its many tiresome +stone steps, not one of which is level from end to end. The Imperial +Hotel, so called, is upon this street. English and American visitors who +are passing a few days here generally choose the Hotel Angleterre, on +the Strada Stretta. There are half a dozen avenues which run parallel +with the main thoroughfare of the city. Strada Mercanti is the most +important of them. On this avenue there are several large public +institutions, including the post-office, the Monte di Pieta, and the +principal market. The latter is situated in the centre of the town, at +the back of the governor's palace. Flies and beggars congregate here in +almost equal numbers, forcing upon one's attention the puzzling problem +of hunger and plenty existing in juxtaposition. Here and there are seen +the spacious and elegant palaces formerly occupied by the rich, +comfort-loving, luxurious Knights, which are now devoted to English +government offices, as barracks, a public library, and law courts, or +are improved for club purposes. It is a wealthy nation which holds +sovereignty in Malta to-day, and her officials, civil or military, are +lodged like princes. The original Auberge de Provence, with its cool, +attractive corridors and lofty apartments, is occupied by the Union +Club, and the Auberge de l'Auvergne, equally palatial, is now used as +the Court of Justice. + +The Order of St. John began its career humbly enough among the pilgrims +of Jerusalem, by taking upon itself vows of chastity, self-abnegation, +and poverty; but it ended in palaces, gross immorality, and undisguised +debauchery. Its lowly birth in that sacred Syrian city was grand and +noble in purpose, but ultimate success, together with the acquirement of +power, fame, and riches, acted as adulterants to the original +conception. Being only mortals, the Knights gave way freely to the +weaknesses of humanity. This perversion of the fundamental design of +the order was the natural presage of its gradual decline and final +downfall. + +The principal streets of Valletta which run parallel with the Strada +Reale are Strada Forni, Strada Mercanti, Strada St. Paolo, Strada Zecca, +and Strada St. Ursula. The second named, as we have already intimated, +is the most important next to Strada Reale. Upon it is situated the +large military hospital which was erected in 1628, and which contains +four hundred beds. One apartment in this institution is nearly five +hundred feet long, exceeding in size any room or hall in Europe. In this +establishment the Knights were accustomed to serve by turns as day and +night nurses,--as "Hospitallers," in fact, and thus to keep good their +claim to the original title of the order. + +Bonaparte, when he was in possession of Valletta, pronounced this civil +and military hospital to be the most perfect institution of the sort in +the world. It was lavishly conducted during the sovereignty of the +Knights, no regard being had for expense, and there was no advantage +known to the medical profession of the period which was not to be +obtained within its walls. + +Street scenes are always significant of the character of a people. Here, +after the style which prevails in southern Europe, all sorts of trades +are carried on in the open air upon the streets. As on the Neapolitan +Chiaja, people live out of doors, invited by the mildness of the +climate. Barbers, tailors, shoemakers, tinkers, and basket-makers ply +their several callings in public, quite unsheltered by any sort of +device, except that of seeking the shady side of the thoroughfare. The +effect is at least to present an industrious appearance. It nevertheless +seems rather odd to see a man, his face frosty with lather, in process +of shaving under such circumstances, or to watch an individual posing +upon the sidewalk while being modeled in wax by a native itinerant +artist. This, by the way, is a specialty here, and its followers acquire +great facility, with a true artistic touch. + +Several of the minor streets are devoted to special occupations, such as +the Strada Irlandese, "Irish Street," which, is well-filled with +blacksmith's shops; in the Strada Levante dwell stone-cutters and +ship-chandlers; another section is occupied by basket and chair makers, +while in a fourth coffin-makers congregate. So, in the City of Mexico, +one street near the great market is entirely devoted to the shops of +coffin-makers, who have florid signs displayed which indicate their +calling, and mural caskets hanging upon the shop fronts. + +The crowded condition of the population suggests emigration, which is a +necessary recourse in these islands. Many of the Maltese are to be found +distributed among the several Mediterranean ports, especially at +Gibraltar, Tangier, Tripoli, and Constantinople. They are quite +unmistakable wherever they are met, retaining under all circumstances a +strong individuality, and using only their native tongue. The men are +sought for by sea-captains who navigate these waters, being as a rule +excellent seamen, prompt and obedient. Like the Sicilians, they are +quick-tempered and passionate, though not particularly quarrelsome. If +they are allowed to carry a knife, they are liable to make use of it in +a quarrel. As it is the men and not the women who emigrate, there is a +preponderance of the latter sex in Malta. + +These Maltese women are often very charming, especially in their figures +and general bearing. No youthful person can be ugly while possessing +such eyes as Heaven has been pleased to give them. They have almost +universally a gentleness of manner which is in itself a great attraction +in women. That their charms are evanescent must be frankly admitted; +they marry early in their teens, and grow old quickly, like the women of +the fellah class in Egypt, who when young are really beautiful, +exquisite in form and graceful in every movement, but who fade rapidly +under the cares of maternity and the labor of the fields. The +occupations of the Maltese women, however, are of a far less wearing +nature. + +One never wearies of wandering about Valletta. There is somehow, amid +the scenes encountered in these quaint streets, a suggestion of the +Arabian Nights which haunts one all the while, only a degree less +forcibly than at Cairo. It would seem to be quite the thing were +Haroun-al-Raschid Grand Master here, accompanied by his favorite +minister Jaafar, and there is ample material from which Ali Baba might +recruit his Forty Thieves. May not this fellow who is crying in Arabic +some mysterious merchandise upon the Strada Reale have new lamps to +exchange for old ones? We only require a score of over-laden donkeys and +a few mournful looking camels to complete the Oriental picture. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + Ophthalmia.--Profusion of Flowers.--Inland Villages.-- + Educational Matters.--Public Amusements.--Maltese Carnival. + --Italian Carnival.--Under English Rule.--No Direct + Taxation.--Code of Laws.--A Summer Palace.--Governor-General + Smyth.--San Antonio Gardens.--Wages.--Oranges.--Life's + Contrasts.--Swarming Beggars.--Social Problem.--Churches + crowded with Riches.--Starving Population.--A Mexican + Experience. + + +Nearly every locality which is visited by travelers is found to have +some special annoyance which is active in its warfare upon humanity. +Thus diseases of the eye prevail among the common people of Malta as +they do in Egypt, a trouble in both countries which is caused by the +fervor of the sun's rays and the general lack of shade, not forgetting +also an evident want of cleanliness. The author has seen native +camel-drivers come into Egyptian cities from across the desert quite +blind for the time being from continuous exposure to the sun's rays and +the powerful reflection of the heated sand. The same effect arises from +the yellow stone dwellings of Valletta, and the bare rocks inland +aggravate the prevailing trouble. So Arctic explorers, living amid the +constant glare of the snow-fields, are subject to ophthalmia, an +affliction which they guard against by wearing snow-goggles. In the +Maltese capital, as in Cairo, there is a fine dust permeating the +atmosphere when the wind blows, charged with silex and animal +impurities, which finds lodgment in the eyes. The ordinary people have +no predilection for the use of water wherewith to cleanse their hands +and faces, consequently such matter accumulates in these delicate +organs, first irritating, then poisoning them. Ulceration follows, and +insects--especially flies, which are a great pest in Malta--carry the +virus from one person to another, creating, in warm weather, an epidemic +of sore eyes. Children are most frequently the sufferers; and this +disease, commencing with them when they are of tender age, is liable to +become chronic. + +Nine tenths of the inhabitants of the group are professed Roman +Catholics. One meets a priest or cowled monk at every turn in the public +streets, as well as upon the roads inland. They usually wear a +characteristic black robe, together with an impossible hat, very broad +of brim and turned up at the sides. There are said to be about two +thousand priests in these islands, whose physical appearance certainly +indicates free and generous diet, not to say luxurious living. The +reader may imagine what a strong contrast they furnish to the hungry, +begging masses of the town whom they pass by with the most utter +indifference. One is fain to ask, Does it ever strike the people, who +are taxed so heavily to support these "walking delegates" of the church +in idleness, that there must be something radically wrong in a system +which fattens a priest by starving a laborer? The conduct of church +affairs should be just as amenable to consistency and sound common +sense as any of the affairs of life. The Maltese, unfortunately, have a +paucity of reason and a plethora of priests. + +Flowers are abundant in Valletta, and, as already intimated, are +marvelously cheap and beautiful, thus arguing a certain degree of public +taste and refinement in the community, which makes it profitable to +raise them. "That man cannot be mean and deceitful," said a shrewd, +cultured woman, and a good judge of human nature, "he is so fond and +careful of flowers." Seeing a bouquet prettily backed with maidenhair +fern, we asked if it was cultivated here, and were told that the plant +grew wild in some of the caves of Comino, near at hand. In the environs +of the capital there is a hamlet named Casal Attard, that is, "the +village of roses;" there is also a Casal Luca, "the village of poplars;" +and still another, Casal Zebbug, signifying, "the village of olives;" a +simple but very appropriate system of nomenclature. Casal Luca is mostly +inhabited by stone masons and quarrymen; indeed, the whole district +about the hamlet is one large quarry. The church in this thrifty village +contains three admirable and well-remembered paintings by that +illustrious artist, Mattia Preti. + +There are twenty-six small casals in Malta proper, the larger number of +which are on the eastern end of the island, and all of them are very +much alike. They are divided by narrow streets, designed to exclude the +powerful rays of the summer sun, while the low stone houses are full to +repletion of children and Arabic-speaking people with Oriental +proclivities. Though there are beggars by the score along the roads and +in the villages, there are no other obvious tokens of poverty. Indeed, +there is a general appearance of thrift. It is in populous centres, in +large cities, that real want and hunger are mostly suffered, where from +force of circumstances the multitude of people cease to be producers, +but are still consumers. Each of these casals has its school, wherein, +it is said, the government tries to introduce the English language, but +it would seem with indifferent success. Those who are sovereign here +appear to be too indifferent in this matter. There is a well-organized +college at Valletta, where degrees are conferred in divinity, law, and +physic. To our inquiry of an intelligent citizen touching this subject, +he promptly replied: "Education in Malta is cheap, bad, and neglected." +This is only too true, though all the civilized world admits it to be +the great and most effective weapon of Christianity and progress. The +most effective missionary who can be dispatched to foreign lands is the +competent school-teacher. Tenets of faith will adjust themselves in +accordance with reason, among those who are rendered sufficiently +intelligent to think for themselves. The ignorance of a large portion of +the Maltese villagers is absolutely deplorable. They have no recognized +language in literature; and if they had, they could neither read nor +write it. They are quite uninformed even upon the most common current +events. An English gentleman (Mr. Seddall), who lived some years at +Malta, declared that they were not a whit better educated than the +Bedouin Arabs. As a conclusive evidence of this, he tells us in print: +"A laboring man once informed me that the Sultan was the supreme ruler +of the island." The same author says: "The priests oppose all +enlightenment of the masses." This is not anything new, as it is their +known and admitted policy everywhere; but in the multitude of witnesses +we arrive at the truth. + +The school system of Valletta was reorganized a few years ago, but it is +still far behind the general progressive ideas of our times. Education +is not compulsory here. + +The popular entertainments of a people form a good criterion for +judgment as to their general character. The amusement which seems to be +most generally resorted to in Malta is that of parading through the +streets in a special garb, while displaying various banners in +celebration of certain church festivals. As in the ritual of the Roman +Catholic Church there are some two hundred such days in the year marked +for similar displays, the festivities of this sort appear to be chronic, +and absolutely pall upon one. The natives are inclined also to make +these occasions an excuse for undue indulgences, and carelessness of +conduct generally. The Carnival is also made much of by the common +people, and indeed it would seem that all classes participate. It begins +on the Sunday preceding Lent and lasts three days, during which period +the populace engage, to the exclusion of nearly all other occupations, +in a sort of good-natured riot, not always harmless. The most ludicrous +and extravagant conduct prevails, the actors being generally masked and +otherwise disguised. Hardly anything that occurs and which is designed +only for diversion, and not instigated by malice, is too absurd for +forgiveness. Ladies are ready to engage in a battle royal from their +balconies, using confetti, dried peas, beans, and flowers, which they +merrily shower upon the passers-by with all possible force. Sometimes, +but this is not often, unpleasant missiles are employed and serious +quarrels ensue. The day after the close of the Carnival, those who have +taken any extravagant part in the revels, or who have been over +self-indulgent, repair to the small church of Casal Zabbar, called Della +Grazia, where they humble themselves by way of penance for their follies +and excesses. It must be admitted that under shelter of the large +liberty which the occasion of the Carnival renders possible, many +otherwise quite inadmissible acts are perpetrated, and that as a whole +this peculiar celebration is terribly demoralizing to all classes of the +community. + +A story of a tragic character is told, having a sad local interest, and +which was a natural outcome of the carnival season. It happened not long +ago. On the last day of the revels, when extravagance of costume and +conduct had reached its climax, when the actors strove to so carefully +disguise themselves as to render discovery impossible, a certain popular +beauty of the humble class was being pursued, complimented, and plied +with bonbons by a masked individual, to the great, disgust and annoyance +of a youth who was her acknowledged lover. It seems that the conspicuous +attention thus bestowed by a new aspirant for her favor was not entirely +displeasing to the youthful beauty. The fact that her accepted lover +evinced great jealousy at this condition of affairs seemed to spur on +both the girl and her newly devoted companion. At last, jealousy so +wrought upon the passion of the neglected lover that, seizing a +favorable moment for his purpose, he plunged his knife to the hilt in +the breast of the unknown rival. The wounded man fell to the ground, +bathed in his own blood, and his mask was promptly removed to give him +breathing space. He who had given the fatal blow escaped. To the +amazement of all, the dying youth was recognized as the girl's own +brother, who was merely enacting a Carnival deception. The man who dealt +the murderous blow has never since been heard from, but the +broken-hearted girl, who was by no means blameless, soon entered a +convent and donned the irrevocable veil. + +Once since the English held possession here, a Scotchman was sent to +Malta as governor, a devout Presbyterian, who conscientiously endeavored +to abolish the noisy celebration of the Carnival on the Sabbath. This so +angered the people that it very nearly led to an open and general +rebellion against English rule. The occasion was not without bloodshed, +though the governor did not push matters to extremes. Their +parishioners were secretly spurred on by the priesthood, who were only +too happy to find an opportunity to make trouble for the Protestants. + +Some of those who read these pages will doubtless remember the Carnival +as it occurred annually in the principal cities of Italy a few years +ago, in Venice, Naples, Milan, and Rome, but more particularly in the +last named capital. The Italian populace would no more be content +without the annual Carnival than the Spaniards would without their cruel +bullfights. The difference between these nationalities is clearly +evinced in these two exhibitions. The Italians are passionate and quick +to quarrel, but as a rule they are not cruel, a trait which is, however, +wrought into the very web and woof of Spanish character. + +The Roman Corso is vividly recalled by the mere mention of the Carnival, +a specially Italian celebration. Through that narrow thoroughfare the +spirited and riderless horses, clad in barbed trappings which spurred +them at every leap, rushed at wild speed until brought to a sudden halt +by the heavy ropes stretched across the entrance of the Piazza del +Popolo. In a similar manner, on high festive occasions the Strada Reale +of Valletta was turned into a racecourse, though it is by no means +level, like the Roman Corso. Intoxicated with mirth, frolic, and +mischief, the motley Roman crowd, the better class of whom, men and +women, wear masks, filled the atmosphere of the Piazza di Spagna with +ribald songs and laughter. The streets which lead into and out of this +central square were crowded with hilarious people dressed in +caricature, all busily engaged in practical jokes and mimic warfare. +Harlequins, gods and goddesses, clowns, spirits of good and evil, all +were represented. Priests and peasants were depicted with their several +belongings, together with members of the learned professions. Those who +assumed these characters strove to be ludicrously consistent therewith. +Foreign lookers-on sometimes mingled with the crowd, from which they +were only too glad to escape after being decorated with mud, and having +their tall hats driven down over their eyes and their coats turned +inside out! To the crowd it was fun, but it was anything but amusing to +the victims. Three days and nights of this pandemonium ended the mad +frolic. To-day, in Rome as in Malta, the Carnival is losing its popular +interest. Horses no longer rush furiously through the Corso, and there +are but few maskers on the streets. The occasion is not forgotten in +Milan, Florence, or Turin. It still lingers with some of its pristine +extravagance in Venice, but its "glory" has departed. + +The reader will perhaps sympathize with the exuberant memory of the +writer, when it breaks forth for a moment recalling these vivid scenes +of past experience. + +Let us return once more to Valletta. + +The British government seems willing not to interfere to any +considerable extent in the domestic or religious affairs of the islands. +An unequaled military and naval station is secured to England in the +Mediterranean, that is the main point. The loyalty of the people to the +British Queen is quite a secondary consideration. Were the Maltese to +break out in a rebellious mood, they would be instantly and ruthlessly +crushed. Their position would be in no way improved. The privileges +which they enjoy would be greatly curtailed, and their political +condition would assimilate to that of the subjected and down-trodden +tribes of India. As we have said, there is no direct taxation imposed +upon the Maltese. The rents of the government lands, together with +customs, licenses, etc., bring in an annual revenue of about two hundred +and sixty thousand pounds sterling, which is calculated to be quite +sufficient. Malta is considered to be self-supporting, in the political +acceptation of the term, so far as England is concerned. In fact, a +small balance appears on the right side of the account toward the +support of the large military organization held here in reserve at all +times, and from which, in case of an emergency, she could draw for +service elsewhere. Gibraltar, Malta, and Aden, the latter at the mouth +of the Red Sea, form important links in the chain of British outposts +guarding the route to her possessions in India. During the ninety-two +years of English occupancy, the group has steadily increased in +population, wealth, and productiveness. Were England to give up Malta, +it would under some specious pretext fall into the hands of Germany, +France, Italy, or Russia. It is far too insignificant in itself to +maintain its independence, and too important in its strategic position +not to be controlled by some one of the great nations. + +As regards the code of laws recognized by the local courts, in +conversation with a native advocate it was found that that of Malta was +of a very confused character. These laws are based upon old Roman +legislation, amended by ecclesiastical enactments brought hither by the +Knights, and fortified by provisionary regulations issued by the several +Grand Masters, and designed to meet special cases. The system is, +indeed, a standing puzzle to the judges themselves. However, as the +Maltese are not a contentious people, but on the contrary are most +docile and easily governed, the authorities find no great +stumbling-block in the legal code. When in doubt, they have always +English common law to fall back upon, and being masters of the position, +there is no appeal from the decisions rendered by the English judges. +Here as elsewhere, litigation is an expensive luxury, in which only +those with full purses can indulge. The petty courts are quite +sufficient to keep the masses of the people in proper discipline. The +large garrison constitutes the most restless element, but as its members +are amenable to martial law, which is always prompt and decisive, good +order is easily preserved. Trial by jury has been applied to all crimes +since 1855. It was first introduced in certain criminal cases as early +as 1829, but its scope was extended in 1844, and as we have said, it now +applies to crimes of whatever nature. + +The governor's summer palace is situated at Casal Lia,--known as San +Antonio,--about five miles from the city, where the chief official makes +his home during a portion of the year. The incumbent of the office at +this writing is General Sir Henry Augustus Smyth, who receives a salary +of twenty-five thousand dollars per annum. Sir Henry is also +commander-in-chief of the troops stationed at Malta. San Antonio is on +the road from Valletta to Citta Vecchia, just before one reaches Casal +Attard,--"the village of roses," with its fine old stone church. The +"palace," as it is called at San Antonio, is spacious and handsome. +Though it is quite plain architecturally, the surroundings are very +beautiful, consisting of extensive gardens, artificial ponds, musical +fountains, and myriads of thrifty fruit trees, the latter laden with +blossoms or golden fruit, such as oranges, lemons, pomegranates, +citrons, figs, and limes. The terraced grounds are connected by easy +stone steps, inviting the visitor to ramble in all directions. A +superficial view of the group gives no promise of such a lovely spot of +ground, borrowed, it would almost seem, from fairy-land, or, as the +Moors were wont to say of Andalusia, "a favored region dropped from +Paradise." Gorgeous butterflies, fragrant geraniums, scarlet and purple +verbenas, graceful lindens, glutinous honeysuckles, and ever-fragrant +roses, all combined to attract the eye and delight the senses. One is +reminded of the low lands of Florida and Louisiana, where the air at +certain seasons is heavily laden with the perfume of the lotus-like +magnolia, empress of the everglades. Very enchanting were the hours +passed at San Antonio, beneath its cool green shades. One can never +forget how brilliant was the floral display, how soft the atmosphere, +and how glorious the sunshine. + +Maltese gardeners understand their business, in the various combinations +of which a tangible poem may be written by one loving his calling and +with a genius for floriculture. Great care is taken as regards the +fitness of one color or form placed in juxtaposition with another; a +group of ornamental trees harmonizes with its surroundings, and even the +fruits are classified with an eye to their fitness for companionship. An +inartistic arrangement in a garden will jar upon the eye of a critical +observer, even as the ear is shocked by a discord in music. It has been +finely said: "To cultivate a garden is to walk with God, to go hand in +hand with Nature in some of her most beautiful processes, and to learn +something of her choicest secrets." + +"How much is paid for the services of a capable gardener here?" we asked +of the guide. + +"About two shillings per day. How much is paid in America?" he inquired. + +"Not less than ten shillings," was our answer. + +The incredulity of the guide was written upon his countenance, but he +made no reply. + +The grounds of San Antonio, like all garden plats in Malta, are +protected by high stone walls. Here, they reach upward eighteen or +twenty feet, above which, here and there, a few towering dark green +cypress-trees are seen, standing like watchful sentinels guarding the +palace grounds. The large number of productive orange-trees makes the +place like a garden of Hesperides. The Knights of old--this having been +the summer residence of the former Grand Masters--are said to have +realized a large income from the sale of the fruit ripened in these +grounds. The orange grove contains over three thousand trees, which +would excite the envy of a successful Florida cultivator by their +thriftiness. In a favorite corner were some specimens of the evergreen +loquat; its long, overshadowing leaves and peculiar yellow fruit +reminded one of the attractive gardens of Hong Kong. At this season +fine, luscious oranges sell in the market of Valletta at twelve or +fifteen cents per dozen, while large quantities are packed and exported, +realizing profitable returns. The royal family of England has a regular +supply of this fruit forwarded from these islands, especially the +fragrant and luscious tangerine, or mandarin species, which lies so +loosely within its crumpled skin as to require only a touch to remove +it. The natural covering of this orange is full of a highly concentrated +and richly flavored oil, whence a superior perfume is produced, and also +a flavoring extract. The fruits of Malta, being grown on an arid soil, +are more juicy and savory than is usual in tropical regions, where they +develop to an abnormal size, and where, if the soil is too rich, the +pulp becomes spongy. + +San Antonio is one of the loveliest and greenest spots on the island. +The view of the sea, city, and harbor from some of the elevated points +of the gardens is charming. Here the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh +resided for a considerable time, and here one of their children, +Princess Victoria Melita, was born, in 1877. She is said to be the only +British princess ever born in a foreign dependency of England. + +The fee of the property of San Antonio is in the British government, +having passed into its possession by right of conquest, like all other +property formerly belonging to the Order of St. John in these islands. +Pleasure unalloyed is not to be found on the earth. That we are in +terrestrial regions, and not in Paradise, is made clearly manifest not +only in this fruitful garden, but also in some decided form wherever we +seek enjoyment. The prominent objection to this beautiful location is +the maddening discomfort of flies and mosquitoes, for the place swarms +with them during four months of the year. It is a happy provision of +nature that we remember best the pleasures of our experiences in foreign +travel, and soon lose the recollection of the annoyances which we +encounter. One can dismiss the mosquito pest; but as we write these +lines there comes back to us, like a half-forgotten strain of music, the +recollection of sweet-smelling syringas, lilacs, and lemon verbena, +mingled with the all-pervading Maltese orange blossoms. Taken as a +whole, San Antonio is a perfect Gan-Eden, a garden of delights in which +to linger and to dream, forming a sort of fairy world, peopled with +blossoms, where wood-nymphs might hold their moonlight revels. + +This is very pleasant to relate and to remember; it is enchanting for +the time being, and puts one at peace with all human nature; but as we +have just illustrated, in the instance of San Antonio, there is always a +reverse side to the picture. + +Let us glance for a moment at the every-day street life of the Maltese +capital. + +The observant stranger is struck with sadness upon first landing in +Valletta at sight of the swarming hordes of the unemployed who throng +the shore and some of the public squares of the city. He sees before him +an ignorant, hopeless, poor, hungry mass of humanity, and wonders where +these people can obtain sufficient bread to keep them from starving. The +manifest poverty of the prolific lower classes of Malta is appalling to +the political economist. Who would dare to sound the depth of this sea +of human want and misery, the daily lot of these hordes of half-fed men? +While looking upon such a scene, a resident with whom we were in company +was asked: "Where can this army of poor, portionless creatures bestow +themselves at night?" The reply was brief and significant: "They have +always the sky over them!" Doubtless a large percentage of these people +sleep on the bare ground, or rather on the flat stones leading up the +lateral streets, with a step for a pillow, like homeless dogs, wherever +drowsiness overtakes them. Fortunately, in this climate the poor do not +suffer from cold under any ordinary circumstances. We were told by our +companion that many of these lazzaroni were heedless rogues and +professional thieves, without the least moral sense of right and wrong. +Who can be surprised at the dishonesty of such poor, ignorant creatures? +_Is_ it dishonesty, this feverish, irregular, desperate struggle for +existence? Must not food be had at any cost? Ah, the great social +problem of dire poverty and purse-proud wealth, this startling +inequality of possession and position, this paucity of sustenance on the +one hand and plethora of means on the other, which presents itself in +every populous community all over the globe! + +It is to sever the Gordian knot of this confusing problem that the +half-crazy, drinking socialist, the wholly reckless, unreasoning +nihilist, resorts to the sword and the fulminating bomb. Far be it from +us to sympathize with such disciples of anarchy; we only present facts +to the mind of the thoughtful reader. Every one admits the incongruity +of the situation. Many worthy persons give way to a false spirit of +philanthropy in connection with it. One thing is certain,--the means +adopted by these irresponsible agitators, socialist or nihilist, will +never remedy, but only augment the difficulty. + +There are many rich people in Malta, while the churches--supposed +emblems of charity, peace, and good-will towards men--are uselessly +decorated with gold and silver candlesticks, precious stones, costly +marbles, valuable tapestry, and priceless works of art, articles as +foreign to any true principle of devotion as snow is to the vegetation +of the tropics. No one can travel in Spain, Italy, Mexico, or South +America--all Roman Catholic countries--without being brought face to +face with a similar state of affairs: costly cathedrals and churches +crowded with gorgeous display, upon which gold has been recklessly +lavished in all possible ways, often surrounded by a ragged and starving +populace steeped in ignorance. Is there any amount of sophistry which +can reconcile such incongruities? + +On coming out of the magnificently adorned Cathedral of Guadalupe, +situated a league from the City of Mexico, not long since, the author +was literally dazed by the strong contrast which presented itself. +Passing by a dozen steps from within this rich and gorgeous temple, upon +which millions of dollars had been lavished, into an atmosphere of the +most abject poverty and dismal want was like changing from brightest +sunshine into the valley and shadow of death. A half-naked, starving +army of beggars--men, women, and children--stared one in the face, their +cadaverous features and attenuated forms, all too clearly defined, +appealing for them with more eloquence than words could do. What sort of +religion is that which can hoard jewels of fabulous value, together with +plate of gold and silver, in its churches, while the poor, crippled, +naked multitude starve outside of its towering and gilded walls? + +The sense of outraged humanity was too strong for words. Even the sleek, +well-fed priest, who had acted the part of guide through the church, +looked abashed as we pointed to this tableau of misery, and then +reproachfully at the gorgeously appointed temple whose portal we had +just left behind. + +How forcibly that Mexican scene is recalled while we write these lines. +At each of the two corners of the plaza nearest to the cathedral stood a +native woman beside a large receptacle of corn meal, from which, by +adding a little water and salt, she was making what is here called +polenta, or dough cakes, which she fried in small slices over a charcoal +fire. Of this plain, simple food,--probably the cheapest which can be +produced,--such of the poor creatures standing near as were possessed of +the means ate a small portion, for which they paid one penny, devouring +the cake with voracious appetite, while the rest looked on with hungry +and longing expression. The reader may be assured that the half-starved +crowd were supplied to the extent of their appetite for once with the +nutritious though simple food, while thin-cheeked mothers were seen +hurrying away with pieces of the polenta in their hands to feed their +hungry children at home. The profuse blessings which were showered upon +the "Americano" were cheaply purchased. + +Within that pretentious church were idle treasures, the interest upon +which, if the principal were properly disposed of, would feed the hungry +people of Guadalupe for years. "Ah!" says the poet Shelley, "what a +divine religion might be found out, if charity were really the principle +of it, instead of faith!" + +Does Christianity, as strikingly represented by gorgeous temples, filled +with hoarded, useless treasures, while surrounded by a hopeless, naked, +starving populace, render any real service to humanity? To the author's +mind, religion of this sort, so far from preventing one crime, affords +pretext for hundreds. + +Let us now conduct the reader to more cheerful and attractive scenes, +and describe the picture as presented by the main thoroughfare of the +charming capital of the Knights. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Broadway of Valletta.--Panoramic Street View.--A Bogus + Nobility.--Former Grand Palace of the Knights.--Telegraphic + Station.--About Soldier-Priests.--Interior of the Palace. + --Ancient Tapestry.--Old Paintings.--Antique Armory.--An + American with a Fad.--Ancient Battle-Flags.--Armor worn by + the Knights.--Days of the Crusaders.--Bonaparate as a Petty + Thief.--There are no Saints on Earth!--Dueling Ground.-- + Desecrating Good Friday. + + +The Strada Reale of Valletta is thoroughly kaleidoscopic in its gay and +fascinating presentment of humanity, forming a strange medley of colors, +while its variety of nationalities recalls Suez and Port Said, where +representatives of the East and West are so confusingly mingled. Here +one sees English ladies and gentlemen clad in fashionable London attire; +soldiers in smart red uniforms; barefooted natives, whose lower garments +are held in place by a gaudy sash tied about the waist; brown-skinned +peddlers, with fancy wares, jostled by a dignified Hindoo, a turbaned +Turk, or a swarthy Spaniard of questionable purpose. There passes also +an occasional Greek in picturesque national costume; a white burnoused +Arab; a native woman in sombre dress, with her face nearly hidden by a +dark hood (a faldetta), which takes the place of a Castilian mantilla. +Here, also, are noisy, half-tipsy blue-jackets, with broad collars, and +straw hats, enjoying shore-leave after their ideas of pleasure. There +are many plethoric, unctuous priests and cowled monks, all mingling +indiscriminately; while persistent, whining, half-clad beggars are +present everywhere. Verily, it is a motley group one encounters upon +this principal street of the Maltese capital. + +Having once promenaded the Strada Reale from the fortress of St. Elmo to +the Floriana Gate, lined from the beginning to the end with quaint +yellow buildings, green projecting balconies, prominent statues of +saints, and filled with a variety of colors generally which a painter's +palette could hardly excel, an American is not likely soon to forget the +brilliant picture of foreign life which it presents. In our own country, +nothing like it is seen off the theatrical stage. + +As regards the faldetta, or dark hood, which screens the faces of the +Maltese women, though a popular legend ascribes its origin to the time +of the French invasion, our own idea is quite different. Its adoption is +most probably connected with the Oriental veil or yashmak of the Eastern +women. It came into use, doubtless, upon these islands during the +dominion of the Arabs, and has been handed down from mother to daughter +ever since. It is purely for street wear. Within the house, at the +theatre, or other public entertainments, variety in dress is not +wanting, nor the dazzling brilliancy of diamonds and other precious +stones, to set off in attractive style the rich brown complexion, dreamy +eyes, and fine features of the Maltese ladies. The effect of this +peculiar hood as worn in public is both nun-like and coquettish,--a +seeming anomaly; but it is quite correct. The average woman of this +mid-sea group speaks a universal language with her dark, expressive +eyes, though only Maltese with her lips. + +Society, as the term is commonly used, is rather peculiar in Valletta, +and is divided into many cliques. There is plenty of gayety, such as is +always to be met with in a great naval and military depot. Many of the +conventionalities of English home life are dropped here, as they are +inevitably in Her Majesty's Indian possessions, or at Hong Kong. All +colonial life is apt to be a little lax, so to speak, just a trifle +fast. Ennuied by their semi-isolation and circumscribed resources, even +cultured people are liable to grow careless as regards the nice +refinements of society. There are several clubs whose object is of a +literary character. A well-organized society for the prevention of +cruelty to animals exists here, also one to promote agriculture, and +another known as the Society of Arts. Each of these engages the +attention of a certain set of people of culture, to their own advantage +and indirectly to that of the community. + +It is natural that there should be a certain exclusiveness observed +between the Maltese families and those of the official English +residents. Caste, so to express it, though not under the arbitrary +conditions in which it exists in India, is not unknown here. Where is it +not to be found under various forms throughout Christendom? It exists +to a certain degree among the English themselves. The separation caused +by the dissimilarity of language, religion, and education is also wide. +There are, as already stated, a certain number of "nobles" who transmit +their distinction to their sons. These are a bigoted, useless, and +extremely ignorant class, generally possessing just enough inheritance +to keep them from beggary, yet who are too proud of their empty titles +to adopt any occupation. These individuals, together with the numerous +native priests, as illiterate as their humblest parishioners, form the +black sheep of Malta, equally useless and unornamental, illustrating the +proverb that "Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do." + +The quays bordering the harbor of the capital present a busy and +picturesque scene well worthy of study. Next to the Strada Reale, they +afford the strongest local color. They are dotted with fruit stands, +refreshment booths, out-of-door cafes, piles of ship-chandlery, jack +tars in white canvas clothes and beribboned hats, and native boatmen in +scarlet caps and sashes of the same texture. One feels inclined to laugh +at the queer little go-carts intended to carry three or four persons, +and drawn by a dwarfed donkey. These vehicles are not unlike an +Irish-jaunting-car, the passengers sitting sideways in the same fashion. + +The former Grand Palace of the Knights of St. John is quite a plain +structure externally, much less pretentious than the edifices devoted +to the several divisions of the order. The Auberge de Castile, for +instance, is a far more striking and ornamental palace, built at the +headquarters of the Spanish language. The Grand Palace has an unbroken +frontage of three hundred feet on St. George's Square,--Piazza St. +Giorgio,--forming an immense quadrangle bounded on each side by large +thoroughfares. Two centuries ago this was called the Piazza dei +Cavalieri, or the "Square of the Knights," and was held as almost sacred +ground. No Maltese could resort to it without a permit in the early days +of the new city. The French called it the Square of Liberty. On the +opposite side of this esplanade is the main guard house of the garrison, +also an establishment known as the Casino, a popular resort of the +merchants and the public generally. Over the entrance of the building +devoted to the guard is the following inscription in Latin: "The love of +the Maltese and the voice of Europe confirm these islands to great and +invincible Britain." In the Strada Vescovo, on the left of the square, +is the house occupied by Byron while he resided here, a fact which your +guide will be sure to mention, as though it were of some real +importance. The old palace has two principal entrances in the front, +each of which leads into an inner area or open court. There are two +other entrances, one from the Strada Vescovo, and one at the back facing +the public market. Centuries ago these spaces within the palace were +improved, one for the storage of the sedan chairs belonging to the +leaders of the several divisions of the Knights, and the other as a +stable for the horses of the Grand Master. During the Carnival these +dignitaries made a gallant show, drawn in the state carriage, to which +six gayly decorated mules were attached, and preceded by a trumpeter. +To-day these deliciously cool areas which lie within the palace are +planted with orange-trees, tall scarlet verbenas, pink oleanders, +hibiscus, rosebushes, and honeysuckles. A large and thrifty creeping +vine, whose name we cannot recall, covered one whole side of a wing of +the building, from foundation to roof, with a wilderness of green, +together with a wealth of scarlet bloom, imparting an agreeable sense of +beauty and fragrance. The liquid notes of a musical fountain also +delighted the ear. In the right-hand court is a large Norfolk Island +pine, planted by the Duke of Edinburgh, and this is called Prince +Alfred's Court. The left-hand area is named for the Prince of Wales, and +contains a statue of Neptune by Giovanni of Bologna. + +This famous old palace is now occupied as the town residence of the +English governor and commander-in-chief of the forces. + +The upper portion is surmounted by a tall square tower, originally +designed as an observatory, the obvious incongruity of which seems to +indicate that it was probably an afterthought on the part of the +architect. It is now used as a marine telegraph station, whence all +arrivals are signaled as soon as the ships' flags and numbers can be +made out. The view from this _torretta_, as it is called, drew forth the +admiration of Lamartine, who visited it. "From the tower of the old +palace," he writes, "Valletta is seen in all its original beauty, +appearing as if cut out of a single piece of living rock." + +The area in front of the palace--no longer exclusive ground--is now a +favorite public resort, and contains two fountains brimming with sweet +refreshment. Here one of the regimental bands gives out-of-door concerts +twice a week. This is also made the headquarters of the annual carnival +displays and frequent military reviews. The Spaniards would call it the +plaza of the city. + +It is true that the exterior of this historic pile is somewhat +disappointing and commonplace in its architectural effect, but the +interior more than compensates for this first impression. One enters the +lofty corridors stimulated by a throng of active memories touching the +romantic story of the chivalric order of the Knights. The impress of +that seemingly incongruous combination, the soldier and the priest, is +everywhere to be seen. We promptly recall their humble beginning +centuries ago at Jerusalem, where, actuated by pious zeal, they +fulfilled the duty of good Samaritans; how they grew in numbers and in +importance until they finally became a warlike body of soldier-monks, +knight-errants of the cross. We remember that for hundreds of years they +fought incessantly against the active power of the Porte, and, almost +single-handed, kept the Ottomans and the piratical Algerines at bay, an +enemy who, uniting, strove to extend the creed of Mohammed westward by +power of the sword, and to banish Christianity from the face of the +earth; how, successively driven from Jerusalem, Cyprus, Acre, and +Rhodes, they finally established a home for the order in this Maltese +group, in defense of which they fought heroically, spilling their blood +like water upon the ramparts of St. Elmo, and finally erecting this +noble city, where they have left such lasting monuments of their +bravery, enterprise, success, and decline. + +Such thoughts are almost automatically suggested by the brain as one +enters the portals of the interesting old palace, once the court of the +now virtually extinct fraternity. Though occupied by the English +officials and kept scrupulously in order, it has an unmistakable and +most melancholy air of desertion in its stately hangings, its echoing +halls, and quaint vestibules. It must all have been very grand when the +renowned brotherhood were at the zenith of their fame and power, when +the head of the order presided here and ruled the proud organization in +regal state. + +The interior of the palace is divided into broad passageways inlaid with +colored marble, picture galleries, banqueting hall, hall of justice, +hall of council, grand armory, and many other spacious apartments. Among +the most meritorious paintings are a series of striking views +representing the various sanguinary battles in which the Knights had +from time to time been engaged. This series is the work of Matteo da +Lecce. Other examples of superior workmanship are by Caravaggio, +Cavalier Favray, Giuseppe d' Arpino, and so on. There are no modern +paintings in the palace, all are mellowed by age. Indeed, there is +nothing new here in art or furniture; such would be quite out of place; +everything seems to have about it the tone of lapsed centuries, while +exhibiting a lavishness of original expenditure which the most limitless +means alone could warrant. + +In one of the broad corridors near the armory hall, the gilded state +carriage formerly used by the Grand Masters may be seen. Its gaudy +construction shows the style kept up by the Knights in those days. The +tawdry, lumbering, gold-decked state carriage one sees at the State +Department of the City of Mexico, left by the ill-advised Maximilian, is +no more extravagant in character. The idea of supporting an official +carriage at all upon this circumscribed island is an obvious folly and +straining after effect. The most extensive journey such a vehicle could +make would be the length of the Strada Reale, or possibly from the +palace square through the Porta Reale into the suburb of Floriana, about +two miles. This useless carriage somehow recalled the ponderous gilded +car of Juggernaut, seen at Tanjore, India, the structure in which the +idol takes its yearly airing drawn by thousands of poor, deluded, and +fanatical Hindoos. + +This edifice in the Square of St. George, it will be remembered, was the +official palace of the order, the headquarters of the Grand Master. +Each "language" or division of the Knights had also its separate palace. +Valletta, like Calcutta or Venice, was a city of palaces. In these +latter days the members of the fraternity lived in great splendor; their +tables were heavy with the richest viands to be obtained, while they +were served in regal style by numerous slaves, male and female. + +The council chamber of the Grand Palace is hung with ancient Brussels +fabrics of great original cost and beauty. These pieces of tapestry, +twenty-two in all, are each fifteen feet square. The figures are of +life-size, representing typical scenes in India, Africa, Europe, and +America, and depicting with considerable accuracy the fauna and flora of +each section of the globe. In the representations of America, there are +a few manifest incongruities and inaccuracies, but one should not be +hypercritical under such circumstances. Little, comparatively speaking, +was known three hundred years ago of this great western continent. These +tapestries are in a state of remarkable preservation, both as regards +color and texture. They are said to have hung in their present position +for over two centuries and a half, exposed to a strong light, and more +or less to atmospheric influences. These are rare specimens of the +admirable work as well as of the durable colors produced by those early +artists in textile fabrics. Connoisseurs whose interest is in this +special line visit Malta solely to see them as they hang in the old +palace. + +The author chanced to meet a wealthy American gentleman in the city of +Florence, lately, with whom this mania for ancient tapestry had become +chronic, and was pursued to some purpose. The individual referred to was +Mr. Charles M. Ffoulke, now of Washington, D. C. He had invested over +fifty thousand dollars in the purchase of very old and neglected fabrics +of this sort, found in various parts of Italy, notably at Rome. These +were mostly from the looms of Gobelin and Brussels. Mr. Ffoulke had +secured the services of a score of patient nuns in the convents of +Florence, who were engaged in the careful restoration of the frayed and +torn, but valuable fabrics. When every piece should be brought as nearly +as possible to its original condition, the whole was to be shipped to +America. One portion of this collection, valued at twenty thousand +dollars, is already in this country, and was presented by its generous +owner for the adornment of the sacristy of a prominent church in New +York city. + +The spacious dining-hall of the government palace of Malta contains +among many other portraits one of Grand Master Vijncourt, by the famous +artist Caravaggio. A master ruler of the order, as we have shown, always +lived in regal style. When he went to church he was attended by a +hundred Knights in full uniform, and half a dozen pages to hold up the +bottom of his robes of state. When he dined in public, the Knights who +formed the rank and file of the order ranged themselves about the hall +standing, and no one moved until he gave the signal for doing so. He +was addressed only in the most deferential manner, and the Knight doing +so must uncover his head and bow submissively. No royal court observed +more strictly the etiquette of profound respect, as evinced towards the +reigning sovereign of the realm. + +There is also in the old palace a gorgeous throne-room and ball-room +combined, sometimes used for the latter purpose to-day. The several +private apartments are all richly frescoed by the best exponents of the +art who could be obtained in Italy, when frescoing was held to be one of +the highest branches of pictorial illustration. Many of the scenes are +very elaborate and quite unfaded, representing events in the early +history of the Order of St. John, including tableaux of the famous +defense of Rhodes, together with many sea-fights between the galleys of +the order and the piratical crafts of the Barbary coast. The Knights +prided themselves upon being as good sailors as soldiers. It was in +their galleons that they captured their richest spoils from wealthy +Ottomans, who often carried with them to sea not only much personal +property and convertible wealth, but also a portion of their slaves and +the favorites of their harems. It was thus that each capture of the +Knights represented a considerable amount of real wealth. + +In visiting the Grand Palace of Malta, the apartment which is sure most +to interest and occupy the stranger is that of the elaborate armory of +the ancient order, a spacious hall, two hundred and fifty feet long by +forty wide, wherein are exhibited the steel harness, mailed gloves, +crossbows, javelins, halberds, pikes, arquebuses, and battle-axes which +were used by these soldier-monks in actual service. Like Falstaff's +sword, the edges of these weapons present tokens of having given and +received many shattering blows, but one feels no doubt that the evidence +here displayed is genuine. History in this connection is quite vivid +enough without seeking to heighten its color by any subterfuge. In the +days when these weapons were used, conflicts were mostly at close +quarters, hand-to-hand. Cavalry and long range cannon were of little +account; indeed, the latter did not exist, and in siege operations the +former were almost entirely useless. + +In this interesting and curious armory are many torn flags, Turkish +robes of military rank, and other trophies of war captured from the +infidels in various conflicts. + +A critical eye will observe that most of the armor must have been +designed for men of smaller physical development than the average +soldier of our period. There is one mail suit in the hall, to wear +which, a man must have been at least seven feet in height, and of +corresponding physical development, the helmet alone weighing +thirty-five pounds, which would soon exhaust the strength of an ordinary +man. There are said to be over three hundred suits of armor preserved +and mounted in the collection, though we should not have thought there +were nearly so many. The average weight of these must be considerably +over forty pounds each. Many are constructed of the finest quality of +steel, elaborately engraved, and inlaid with gold and silver. The +author's attention was called to one suit, which was so heavily +ornamented with the precious metal that the original cost must have been +at least a thousand pounds sterling, including the artistic and +mechanical labor involved in its production. This armor, it should be +understood, was only designed to protect the front and side of the +wearer's person. Here and there are seen a breast-plate with indentures +evidently made by an enemy's bullet or spear-thrust, which would +doubtless have proved fatal to the wearer but for this metallic +protection. The armory is also hung with an interesting series of grim +old portraits of the Grand Masters of the Order of St. John, dating back +to the earliest days of the organization. As here represented, they must +have been men of decided character, the traits of decision and firmness +being those most prominently delineated by the artists. One or two were +evidently persons of fine and commanding personality, notably L'Isle +Adam and La Vallette. There is, somehow, a sternness and spirit of +aggression pervading all these counterfeit presentments. + +Some of the firearms in the Knights' armory are very curious weapons, +closely resembling the principle of our modern revolvers and +breech-loading guns, although it must be remembered that these specimens +are three or four hundred years old. When one pauses to consider the +matter, this seems to make the late Colonel Colt more of a discoverer +than an inventor. A most curious cannon preserved among the rest of the +arms, small in calibre and of Turkish workmanship, is particularly +interesting. It has a barrel which would take a ball of about an inch +and a half in diameter, and is made from closely-woven tarred rope, with +a thin metallic lining, the whole so strong and compact that it would +sustain a discharge of gunpowder sufficient to propel a shot with fatal +effect a hundred yards at least. This singular weapon seems to have been +used for belligerent purposes, and it purports to have been taken from +the Mussulmans during the famous siege of Malta, in 1565, when an enemy +forty thousand strong, with a hundred and fifty galleys, invested the +island and besieged it for three months, being finally defeated with a +loss of three quarters of their army. Thirty thousand men are said to +have lost their lives on the part of the Turks, by the sword and camp +fevers, not to enumerate those disabled by wounds. + +As regards this strong and compact rope cannon just spoken of, so far as +we know it is unique, and would seem to belong to an earlier period than +is claimed for it. Probably it was brought by the Knights from Rhodes. +Few people are aware how strongly tarred rope can be bound together by +seamen and others accustomed to manipulate it. When thoroughly worked +into shape, it becomes almost as solid as iron. + +The rusty old lances, broken spears, and dimmed sword-blades hanging +beside tattered battle-flags bearing bloody marks of the fierce contests +in which they took part, are silent but suggestive tokens of the +Crusades, recalling the names of Saladin and Coeur de Lion, when +Christians and Mohammedans were arrayed in bitter sectarian warfare +against each other upon the plains of Palestine,--romantic and historic +days rendered thrice familiar to us by the captivating pen of Scott. +Here we pause for a moment before the trumpet which sounded the retreat +from Rhodes. These instruments close beside it are the batons of office +which were used on state occasions by Aliofio Wignacourt and La +Vallette. Those curious in such matters find the place full of interest +while carefully examining these warlike appurtenances, which as a whole +form a collection unequaled in its line by any armory in Europe. There +are many interesting relics of the famous Order of the Knights in this +apartment, besides those of the battlefield. The hall is a veritable +museum, containing many illuminated books, manuscripts, sacred emblems, +ancient Phoenician, Arabic, and Maltese coins, with curious church +paraphernalia which were in constant use centuries ago, each article +forming a page, as it were, in the history of those Knights of the +church. Among the treasures preserved in the armory was the costly and +artistic sword given to the Grand Master, La Vallette, by Philip II. of +Spain. The golden hilt was set with large diamonds of purest water, and +the workmanship was of exquisite finish. This sword Bonaparte stole and +appropriated to his private use, wearing it ostentatiously when he +departed from Malta on his way to Egypt,--a mean and petty sort of +thieving which this man constantly practiced. + +Among other valued curiosities, one sees in a glass case the deed of +perpetual sovereignty granted to the Order of St. John by Charles V., +dated March, 1530. Nothing upon earth endures for long. The formal deed +of gift is here, but the title is extinct, and so is the order of the +Chevaliers of St. John. + +The English government have stored in the palace a large collection of +firearms, including some twenty thousand muskets, which were +manufactured in the Tower of London. Such have been the improvements +made in this weapon, however, that these guns would hardly be considered +suitable arms with which to furnish a body of infantry in time of war. +The old smooth-bore, muzzle-loading firearm is now entirely obsolete. +Even the African tribes, who have so lately fought the French in +Dahomey, were supplied with, and used effectively, breech-loading +rifles. + +It appears, as we have felt it our duty to make plain, that these +church-robed warriors were very human in their instincts, and by no +means exempt from the average sins that flesh is heir to. Some outspoken +historical writers have recorded acts of debauchery perpetrated by them +which we should certainly hesitate to reprint. All this, too, +notwithstanding their pretended sanctity and discipleship, together with +the stringency of their priestly vows. We may be sure that there are no +saints on this mundane sphere, and that those who pretend to the +greatest degree of sanctity are mostly those who possess the least. +Experience never fails to furnish proof of this. Our most cherished +idols have feet of clay. Nothing known to civilization is more debasing +to morality, truthfulness, honor, and chivalrous manhood than the +holding of slaves. The Knights of St. John were open and undisguised +slave traders,--slave traders in the fullest sense of the term, reaping +therefrom not alone constant additions to their material wealth, but +also all the miserable consequences contingent upon so vile a +connection. This was perhaps the greatest promoter of the sensuality, +gluttony, and gambling propensities which prevailed to such a +demoralizing and shameful extent among the members of the brotherhood. + +These famous champions of the church had also their schisms, their petty +jealousies and quarrels, like all the rest of the world. There were in +the code of laws, to which they solemnly subscribed, stringent rules +against premeditated dueling, but these were easily and frequently +evaded. Fatal infractions often occurred, the outcome of quarrels +started over the gaming-table or the wine-cup. Punishment was somehow +escaped. The law was plain enough, but the misdeed seems always to have +been condoned. Men who live by the sword are very liable to die by it. +Deaths arising from personal conflicts were by no means rare among this +priestly fraternity. If a Knight was challenged by one of his +brotherhood for what was deemed to be good and sufficient cause, and did +not promptly respond, no matter why, he was denounced among the +fraternity as a coward, and was punished by social ostracism. The +inconsistency of such a state of affairs, existing in a pretended +religious community, will at once suggest itself to the reader. The +profession of Christianity did very little to separate the armed priest +from the brute. This fact was not only illustrated in this dueling +propensity, but in the recklessness of their daily habits. Human life +was held at the lowest possible estimate, and its sacrifice for trivial +causes was taken little if any notice of by those in authority. Men who +make a profession of arms are very liable to resort to weapons of +warfare, rather than to reason, in the settlement of any question which +may arise among them. + +There is a narrow street which runs the whole length of the city, +parallel with the Strada Reale, which was celebrated as the dueling +ground of the Knights. The reason for this selection was because a +combat in this circumscribed passageway might be looked upon in the +light of a casual encounter, or an accidental collision. This was a very +weak deduction, but it appears to have sufficed for the purpose. The +fact was, that a challenge which had passed between two Knights, no +matter what the circumstances were, could not be ignored by them, or a +personal encounter avoided, any more than such an occurrence could be +disregarded among the swashbucklers of Dumas's musketeers. The instinct +of the sword, so to speak, was stronger with these professed +religionists than was any other recognized principle. The combatants +were bound, however, by some recognized palliating rules: for instance, +to put up their swords upon the interference of a brother Knight, an +officiating priest, or a woman, which may be interpreted as an attempt +to draw a line of prevention about this barbaric custom of settling +private disputes with the sword. + +When a fatal conflict occurred on the Strada Stretta, a cross painted or +cut upon the house front nearest to the spot ever after indicated the +event. There used to be a long line of these significant signs upon this +thoroughfare, but nearly all are obliterated, some by design and others +by the wear of time. The records of the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries teem with entries of stabbing, wounding, and killing among the +Knights, the result of encounters upon the Strada Stretta. When there +was a common enemy to encounter, and upon whom to expend their surplus +energy, the Knights were as one man, living together in comparative +harmony, but in days of peace they were only too ready to turn their +weapons against each other in heated quarrels. + +Washington Irving relates a veritable ghost story concerning a fatal +encounter which took place in this notorious Strada Stretta, as related +to him by an old Knight who once lived upon the island of Malta, and +whom he met somewhere in Italy. The basis of the story was the fact +that two Knights of the Order of St. John, one of Spain and one of +France, met and fought a duel here on a certain Good Friday, the latter +losing his life in the conflict. There was always more or less active +rivalry existing between the French and Spanish divisions of the +brotherhood. In the instance referred to there was a woman in the case, +for the Knights were as famous for their gallantry towards the ladies as +for prowess in battle. In times of peace they occupied their leisure, +not with any intellectual resort,--alas! that the truth must be told, +few of them, comparatively speaking, could read and write,--but nearly +all seem to have been experts at domestic intrigue and gambling, at +wine-bibbing and dueling. Their only study was the effective handling of +warlike weapons. The fencing-master, not the schoolmaster, was +constantly "abroad." + +The story, which Irving tells at considerable length, represents the +victor in the duel referred to as having suffered infinite remorse for +his murderous act, and that he was pursued night and day by a terrible +phantom visible only to himself. In vain was the severest self-imposed +penance, in vain the confessional, in vain his prayerful regrets. He +seemed doomed as a just punishment to endure a purgatory upon earth. The +great onus of the whole affair, however, as made to appear in the +narrative, was not the sacrifice of a human life under such +circumstances, but that the act should have been committed on Good +Friday! + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + The Famous Church of St. John.--By What Means it was + Decorated.--Grand Mosaic Floor.--Roman Catholic Ceremonials. + --Remarkable Relics.--Chapels of the Languages.--A Devout + Artist.--Church Treasures.--Thieving French Soldiers.-- + Poetical Justice.--The Hateful Inquisition.--Churches of + Valletta.--A Forlorn Hope.--Heroic Conduct.--A Maltese + Pantheon.--A Rival Dome to St. Paul's, London.--Some Fine + Paintings. + + +After the Grand Palace of the Knights, described in the last chapter, +the next place of interest to a stranger in Malta is the church of St. +John, which stands upon an open square, shaded by graceful trees, +opposite the head of the Strada Santa Lucia. It is a little over three +centuries old, having been built by the order about the year 1576, at +great cost. The members of the fraternity vied with each other in its +elaborate adornment, and lavished untold sums of gold for this purpose. +Robbery upon the high seas, predatory invasions of unprotected coast +towns, and the sale into slavery of the captives--men, women, and +children--whom they thus got possession of, served to keep the purses of +the Knights full, and enabled them to indulge their wildest fancy to its +full extent. Perhaps the expenditure of their ill-gotten wealth in this +direction was the least harmful of all the ways in which it was +squandered. The piratical manner in which they procured the means for +the costly adornment of the church of St. John did not militate against +the acceptability of the same, on the part of the priesthood immediately +attached to the cathedral. What a satire upon the "holy" character of +this Romish temple, this church of St. John! "The church," says Goethe, +"has a good stomach; has never known a surfeit; the church alone can +digest such ill-gotten wealth." In Mexico, Sicily, and Spain the +banditti go to the priests when contemplating murderous crimes, and pay +to be shrived of their sins before committing them, promising also to +hand over to the church treasury a liberal portion of the proceeds of +their robberies! + +But let us return to our description of this marvelously decorated +church of Valletta. + +Below the cross which forms the apex of the front is a statue of the +Saviour, a masterpiece of art from the hand of Algardi, a famous +Bolognese sculptor. There are two heavy square towers, containing +numerous bells, whose metallic tongues are perfectly deafening on all +festal occasions, giving utterance at early morning hours, intended by +nature for sleep, and continuing all day long, the dread of unaccustomed +ears. They are not rung in the manner commonly adopted elsewhere, and +after what would seem to be the most legitimate fashion, but are beaten +with a hammer, in the stout hands of a native islander. In Japan they +ring their ponderous, low-hung bells, placed in front of the temples, +with a battering-ram of timber, driven by many hands, which, though it +sounds like veritable thunder, is no more malicious than the Maltese +sledge-hammer method. + +The clock of this church has three faces, showing the current hour, the +day of the week, and the day of the month. It is a curious, though not +remarkable, piece of work, interesting, however, as being the product of +a native Maltese mechanic. This edifice was intended to be the +Westminster Abbey of the order, where the mortal remains of its members +should find a lasting and monumental sepulchre. The architect, Girolamo +Cassan, was a famous artist of his day, who laid out and designed the +city of Valletta as a whole, with its many palaces, under the immediate +direction of the Grand Master whose name it bears. + +As we draw aside the heavy matting which always hangs before the +entrance to the church, it is impossible not to be impressed by the +magnificence which is everywhere displayed. + +An oppressive odor of floating incense at first salutes the senses, as +is the case in all Roman Catholic churches; but a few moments serve to +accustom one to the musty, unventilated place. It does not seem to occur +to the custodians of these edifices that such a place of public +assemblage requires change of atmosphere just as much as a domestic +residence. Architecturally, the church of St. John has no pretension +whatever, either inside or out, though its proportions are very grand. +The mosaic pavement is doubtless the most perfect specimen of the kind +in existence,--a mosaic of tombs, and an example of sepulchral +magnificence. The whole effect is rich beyond description, from +pavement to roof. Yet there is, strange as it may seem, a cold +emptiness, not to say gloom, which overcomes the stranger amid all this +plethora of furnishing and fresco. The detail is too infinite to be +taken in as a whole. Only a general impression of the place is retained +by the average visitor. To the thoughtful and unprejudiced it must +surely prove to be more pagan than Christian. + +Where we stand upon its tessellated floor, each square yard is sacred to +the memory of some departed Knight; the marbles bearing their names are +also emblazoned with their arms. One can readily imagine the many +festive occasions, elaborate and pompous ceremonials, military, civic, +and religious, which have taken place within these walls while the +Knights were at the acme of their power. The chairs of state were then +filled with gaudily dressed officials. Priests, in glittering robes, +bearing gold and silver mitres, filed hither and thither in long +processions, accompanied by banners, and preceded by youths in spotless +white, who swung burning and pungent incense in silver vases, while the +ponderous organ breathed forth its solemn, reverberatory notes. The +tapestried alcoves were brilliant with numberless candles, and the high +altar was ablaze with burning wax, while the figures in the sacred +paintings must have looked down from their canvases with weird and +cynical expression. No doubt these church ceremonials were solemn and +impressive, where one and all assumed a virtue, if they had it not. Is +it surprising that this cunningly devised and gaudy display, these +elaborate performances, should be awe-inspiring to an ignorant and +superstitious people? One can even conceive that the actors themselves, +in such a theatrical show, having been brought up in the Roman Catholic +faith, may believe that they, poor, finite creatures, individually +glorify the great and good God by this hollow mummery. + +To-day, only a score of nun-like Maltese women, clad in black, kneel +here and there before some favorite saint. If the stranger catches a +glance of their dark eyes from behind the screening faldetta, he finds +them more redolent of earth than of heaven,--dreamy, persuading eyes, +glancing from beneath downcast lids, and shaded by long lashes. Only two +male visitors are present,--the author and his guide, while a single +priest, robed in a velvet surplice, goes through a pantomime of kneeling +and crossing himself in front of the high altar, with his back toward +the scanty audience. This man's voice is so low, if he speaks at all, +that the solemn silence of the place is quite unbroken. If he could be +heard, no worshiper of the class who come hither would understand the +Latin tongue in which he is supposed to read the service. + +We can remember but two other churches of its class which equal this of +St. John in tawdry, yet costly and useless decorations, namely, those of +Burgos and Toledo, in Spain. It was the former church that was +considered so exquisite, and delicately artistic in every appointment, +that Charles V. said it ought to be placed under glass. The Toledo +cathedral rivals any Romish church we have visited, in its riches of +gold, silver, precious stones, and art treasures. It contains also more +stained glass windows than any other ever built, with the possible +exception of St. Peter's. Statues and pictures abound in the church of +St. John; gold and silver accessories, added to the original expense of +the carved lapis lazuli, render the high altar, as a whole, of great +aggregate cost. The railing in front is composed of solid silver. The +keys of Jerusalem, Acre, and Rhodes, esteemed of priceless value as +memorials, are deposited beneath the high altar,--relics of the early +possessions and the old chivalrous days of these warriors of the cross. +Just behind the altar hangs a famous painting of the Beheading of St. +John, by Caravaggio, painted in 1609. There is also an elaborate group, +in marble, representing the Baptism of Christ. It is the work of Maltese +artists of the seventeenth century, forming a remarkable monument of +native talent. + +Before the altar of this Valletta church, on the right and left, richly +upholstered chairs are placed, raised above the level of the floor, and +draped with canopies of rich crimson velvet. These chairs are designed +for the bishop and the representative of the sovereign power in Malta. +They are occupied only on state occasions. Over the last mentioned is +placed the British coat of arms. In the spacious sacristy are a score or +more of fine old paintings variously ascribed to great masters. One or +two of these are very old, and were brought by the Knights from Rhodes +when they evacuated the island. + +The most celebrated relic of this Maltese cathedral was the reputed +right hand of St. John the Baptist, brought originally from Antioch to +Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian, who, in the intensity of his +veneration, built a church expressly for its preservation. After the +capture of Constantinople by the Turks, the Sultan Bajazet gave it to +the Grand Master D'Aubusson at Rhodes, whence it was brought to Malta by +L'Isle Adam. The hand was incased in a glove of wrought gold covered +with precious stones, among which was a large diamond of unusual value. +This gem, Bonaparte, as usual, stole and placed upon his own hand. "You +may keep the carrion," said the French general flippantly, as he handed +the relic to the Grand Master, minus the ring. It was a curious act of +destiny that the Corsican scourge should have carved his name upon this +rocky island of Malta,--this granite page of history. + +When Hompesch treacherously and in the most cowardly manner surrendered +the Maltese group to the French, he carried the hand of St. John away +with him, and afterward presented it to Paul I., Emperor of Russia, when +he was chosen Grand Master of the order, under peculiar circumstances. +This singular relic is still preserved in the Winter Palace at St. +Petersburg. + +The tapestries in the church of St. John are known to have cost +originally thirty thousand dollars, and were from the famous +manufactory of De Vas Freres of Brussels, for whose looms Rubens did not +disdain to work. On the way to Malta they were captured by a Moorish +corsair, and ransomed by the payment of their full value in gold. Thus +they cost the church just sixty thousand dollars. + +Among other relics which are shown to the visitor is a thorn from the +crown worn by Christ, a fragment of the infant Jesus' cradle, one of the +stones which slew St. Stephen, the foot of Lazarus, some bones of St. +Thomas of Canterbury, and so on. + +On either side of the nave of the church of St. John are dome-crowned +chapels, each having its special altar elaborately ornamented with +paintings of more or less merit, together with bronze and marble +statues. These chapels were devoted to the several divisions of the +Knights,--the different languages, comprising those of France, Provence, +Auvergne, Aragon, Castile, Italy, Germany, and Anglo-Bavaria, eight in +all. In the French chapel is a sarcophagus in memory of the Duke de +Beaujolais, brother of Louis Philippe, who died of consumption at Malta. +This tomb is ornamented with a full-length recumbent statue of the +youthful prince, and is a fine work of art. From this chapel there are +marble steps leading to the crypt in which are the tombs of twelve of +the Grand Masters, including those of L'Isle Adam, first Grand Master in +Malta, and his successor, La Vallette. The sarcophagi in this place are +elaborate works of more than ordinary merit, and are said to have come +from Florence, Milan, and Rome. The sepulchre of La Vallette interested +us most, as does the life of this remarkable soldier, commander, and +prelate. The pedestal is of bronze, upon which the Grand Master is +represented as reclining in the full armor of a Knight of the order +which he had served so long and so faithfully. At the foot of this tomb +lies the body of Oliver Starkey, La Vallette's trusted secretary, who, +had he possessed the ambition, might have aspired to almost any post of +honor within the gift of the brotherhood. In the silence of this +sepulchral chamber, one naturally falls to musing upon the vanities of +life and the stern reality of the end. The tomb is the great leveler; +the emperor and his humblest subject must alike crumble to dust. + +As we ascend once more to the nave of the church, the brain becomes very +busy with thoughts suggested by the surroundings, where there is such an +incongruous blending of religious with warlike associations. Everything +speaks of the brave but heedless Knights, and their common pride in and +devotion to this ostentatious temple. + +Besides the chapels which were assigned to the several languages of the +order in this church of St. John, here called the cathedral, each +division had also some church in the city devoted entirely to its +service. Thus to the Knights of Provence belonged the church of Santa +Barbara, in the Strada Reale; that of Italy possessed the church of +Santa Catarina, in the Strada Mercanti; the church of Our Lady of Pilar, +in the Strada Ponente, belonged to the language of Castile and +Portugal, the other divisions being similarly supplied with separate +churches. + +We have several times referred to the divisions of the Knights; this +should perhaps be made clearer by a few words. In consequence of the +admission to their ranks of kings, princes, and nobles from all parts of +Christendom and speaking various tongues, they divided themselves into +what was called "the eight languages," each, as we have shown, having +its special chapel and palace. In the Grand Master, however, who was +nearly always an accomplished linguist, rested supreme power over each +and all. No vow which the members of the fraternity took upon themselves +was deemed more binding than that of implicit obedience to the presiding +head of the order. The importance of discipline was thoroughly +recognized, and there was no possibility of appeal from a decision of +the Grand Master. By no other means could so heterogeneous an assembly +of men from different nations be controlled, especially when consisting +of individuals whose sense of moral rectitude was of the feeblest +character, and whose principal occupation was that of arms. + +We were speaking more particularly of the cathedral of St. John, in +describing which many pages might be easily if not profitably filled. + +The roof of the edifice, which is divided into zones, is superbly +painted in elaborate designs, representing hundreds of figures of such +proportions as to appear from the floor to be of life-size. The +subjects are mainly Scriptural themes, especially relating to the life +of St. John, painted in oil laid on the stone, which the artist prepared +by a peculiar process devised for this purpose. At the corners of each +of the arches are a score of figures representing martyrs and heroes, +illustrative of the history of the knightly order. The real genius +displayed in the designs could only be born of one inspired by a true +love of art, together with a devoutly religious spirit. The excellence +of the designs and the naturalness of the army of figures challenge both +surprise and admiration. They are so artistically done that it is +difficult not to believe them to be in bas-relief. The whole was the +patient work of one prolific artist, Mattia Preti, an accomplished and +enthusiastic Calabrian, who spent forty years of his life in the special +adornment of the church of St. John, refusing, it is said, all pecuniary +remuneration for the same. He was quite content to live frugally, +exercising strict self-denial, that he might thus exemplify his art and +his religious devotion. Preti studied the rudiments of his chosen +calling with his brother, who was director of the Academy of St. Luke, +at Rome, and brought with him to Malta not only ability and experience, +but a devout love of art for art's sake. His body lies buried before the +entrance to the vestry, the artist having died in 1739, well advanced in +years, and leaving behind him, in Malta, a vast number of examples of +his ability, which form an appropriate monument to his memory. As +evidence of his indefatigable industry, it should be mentioned that in +the cathedral of Citta Vecchia in the centre of the island, other +specimens of Mattia Preti's work in the same line of church adornment +may be seen, together with some fine individual pieces of composition. + +The treasures still remaining in the church of St. John are of great +intrinsic value, notwithstanding the fact that Bonaparte's soldiers, +after the usual fashion of the French in these days, robbed it of nearly +all portable articles which were of a salable nature, during their brief +stay upon the island. Their stealings included the twelve life-size +statues of the Apostles, which were of silver. These statues are said to +have been ransomed by some rich prelate, and are now in the old +cathedral of Citta Vecchia, if common report may be credited. The +author, however, did not see them there. A golden lamp of great size and +value was also purloined by the same freebooters when they robbed St. +John's church of other effects. Many articles which it was not desirable +to carry off, these vandals wantonly destroyed. One of the Venetian +chandeliers, thus sacrificed, when lighted burned several hundred +candles at a time. The guide points out the balustrade before the altar +already spoken of as consisting of solid silver, which escaped the +observation of the soldiery. This was brought about by the ingenious act +of a thoughtful priest, who, to hide the true character of the material, +painted the precious metal black. It has in our day assumed its true +argentiferous appearance. It was this shameful thieving propensity of +the French, that of pillaging all the churches, art galleries, and +charitable institutions of those upon whom they made war, which finally +led to their expulsion, causing the Maltese at last to rise in a body +and declare a revolution. This inexcusable pilfering was begun before +Bonaparte left the group; indeed, he set the example himself, though he +was only six days on the island. Leaving a trusted general in charge, he +hastened onward with his ships and soldiers to Egypt, which was the +objective point of the expedition. The invasion and capture of the +island of Malta was, as it were, only incidental. The treasures stolen +from Malta were placed on board L'Orient, a vessel which was lost in the +sea,--it was blown up, in fact, and now lies on the bottom of the bay +where the battle of Aboukir was fought. It was destroyed by the British +fleet under Nelson in that memorable action, and forms an example of +poetic justice with which one cannot but heartily sympathize. When +Bonaparte left Malta he impressed the native regiment which formed the +guard of the Grand Master into the service of France, promising to pay a +certain sum regularly to the families whom they left upon the island; a +promise which was never fulfilled by Bonaparte, and was never intended +to be. The French were liberal in promises and agreements duly drawn up +and signed--then totally ignored. + +Sometimes Providence chooses to employ peculiar agents whereby to +accomplish its purposes. Thus the French, who were birds of ill-omen +wherever they appeared in those days, were the means of bringing about +one great and much-needed reform during their sovereignty here in 1798, +for which they deserve much credit. They promptly banished from the +island that hateful and bloody agent of the Romish church, the +Inquisition, which had taken deep root in Malta, and which was reveling +in its bigotry, cruelty, and despotism, defying the authority of all +recognized and regularly constituted laws. The spacious stone edifice +formerly devoted to the use of these inquisitors, situated in the Strada +Porta Maggiore, is now occupied as barracks for an English regiment. So +it is with those priestly harems of Mexico, the late convents and +nunneries, which, having been forbidden by the national government to be +used for such purposes, are now improved for district schools, +hospitals, libraries, and sundry other useful and respectable purposes, +much to the improvement of the morals of the community. + +An impressive personal experience in the church of St. John occurs to us +as we write. + +The soft light from the wax candles did not banish the sombre hues +inside the ancient place, though it was midday on one occasion as we +stood examining the rich old tapestry near the high altar. It was very +still, and we were quite alone. No services were going on. Suddenly a +strong ray of sunlight penetrated some opening from above and rested +upon the illumined hangings. It brought out the dim colors and figures +as though they had been touched by the wand of an enchanter. The eye +involuntarily followed this shaft of light to its source, the rays being +made up, apparently, of buoyant and infinitesimal sands of gold. The +translucent column slowly changed its angle, until it rested for a +moment, like a halo, upon the severed head of St. John, in Caravaggio's +canvas, then suddenly disappeared. It seemed like an artificially +produced theatrical effect, cleverly managed, but the memory of the +singularly impressive experience is indelibly fixed upon the brain. + +There are between thirty and forty churches in and about Valletta, none +of which merit special attention for their appointments. It would seem +as though there were more than the number named, since in wandering +about the town one is constantly coming upon a fresh one, whose +crumbling walls, however, are anything but "fresh." Two or three of +these churches were founded by Roger, when King of Sicily and Malta, and +were liberally endowed by him about the beginning of the eleventh +century. There is also a Jewish synagogue of modern construction, to +accommodate the followers of that faith, who, although not numerous, are +still represented by considerable numbers in the city. The architecture +of the churches is mostly of the Renaissance, presenting each a great +dome flanked by two heavy towers. Besides these churches, there are +several minor chapels within the fortifications. Particular interest +attaches to one of the latter, which for many years was hidden by the +debris of the fallen walls of St. Elmo. The episode which makes this +small chapel so specially worthy of mention forms one of the bright, +chivalric pages in the too often darkened career of the Knights of St. +John. + +When the capture of this fort by the Turks, in the famous siege of 1565, +became at last inevitable, after months of stout defense and gallant +fighting, the few surviving Knights who so bravely held the position +against immensely superior numbers retired to this small chapel within +the fort, where they received the viaticum, solemnly embraced each +other, and then, although many of them were already grievously wounded, +went forth upon the ramparts to die. In the general defense of the +island it was all-important,--nay, imperative--that St. Elmo should hold +out as long as was possible. Every hour that it delayed the enemy was of +the greatest importance. Reinforcements from Italy were anxiously +expected, and the fleet which should bear them might heave in sight at +any moment. The walls of St. Elmo were already honeycombed by the shot +of the enemy, but the idea of surrendering to the Turks did not even +enter the minds of its brave though weary defenders. The Grand Master +demanded of them, if it became necessary, to die sword in hand, fighting +the infidels to the last gasp. This order was literally obeyed. +Communication with the other forts was entirely cut off, so that it was +impossible to reinforce those who were left within the crumbling walls, +but the gallant defenders managed to send word to headquarters by +employing an expert native, who made his way across the harbor in the +night, swimming mostly under water, so that the Grand Master was +informed of their exact situation. By the same means of communication, +the order was sent to them, "Hold the fort, or die fighting," in +obedience to which, every Knight faithfully laid down his life! + +We know of no parallel case in warfare. Indeed, there are few more +heroic pages in history than those which record the gallant defense of +the Maltese fort of St. Elmo, before which, not only hundreds, but many +thousands of frenzied Turks, the flower of the Ottoman army, were +slaughtered in vain but savage assaults upon its walls. The few +chivalrous Knights who constituted the forlorn hope left to the last in +the fort sold their lives to the enemy at such fearful cost, killing so +many of them outright,--quarter being neither asked nor given,--as to +spread consternation among the whole army of besiegers, the remnant of +whom not long after withdrew from the island in despair. The frenzied +recklessness of the Turks was no match for the cool, determined purpose +of men who had consecrated themselves, as it were, to death. + +The leader of the infidel forces, Mustafa Pasha, when surveying the +scene of the last terrible conflict, and realizing that more than half +of his invading army had been sacrificed before the walls of St. Elmo, +is reported as having said, while looking toward the other and greater +forts still held by the Knights, "If the child has required the +spilling of such rivers of blood and such myriads of lives to conquer +it, what sacrifice will not the parent demand before yielding?" Nothing +but Mohammedan frenzy, a wild, unthinking, religious zeal, infatuation +pure and simple, could have sustained this long, destructive, and +fruitless siege on the part of the Turks. + +St. Elmo to-day is considered to be the most perfect and the most +absolutely impregnable of all the fortified points of the Maltese +capital. It requires two regiments of artillery and one of infantry to +man the extensive walls of this fort in war time. It was, comparatively +speaking, an infant in arms, in those early days. Now it is like a +full-grown giant,--a man-of-war in size and strength. Its original form +was almost exactly like a star, but ample additions have somewhat +changed its outlines. + +Speaking of the several churches of Valletta and its environs, the +remarkable dome of Musta is recalled. It covers a Pantheon-like edifice, +situated in a village a league or so from the capital. The church is +visible from a lofty point in the city, and was built by the labor of +the poor peasantry of the neighborhood, patiently and resolutely +continued through a period of thirty years. Yet, speaking of these +peasants, Mr. Henry Ruggles, a late American consul to Malta, says: +"They are so poor that the most opulent has not sufficient income to +purchase a goat." The Musta church was originally designed by a devout +and conscientious priest, who inspired his helpers by his self-devotion +to the purpose which he had conceived. But he did not live to see it +finished. It is curious that the dome of this village church, on a +Mediterranean island, should be a widespread, lofty structure, larger +than that of St. Paul's, London. The span of the latter is ten feet less +than that of the former. It is a round edifice, composed of the yellow +Maltese stone, and of such majestic proportions as to be very pleasing +to the critical eye. The church is dedicated to the Madonna. The extreme +height from the ground to its apex is about two hundred feet, the walls +being very thick. The diameter of the whole is about that of its height, +which are the same proportions as the Pantheon at Rome, from which many +of the features are evidently copied. It has a couple of large bell +towers placed at either end of a Corinthian portico which forms the main +entrance, but they are rather diminutive compared with the central dome. + +This, as well as all the village churches in the group, is plentifully +ornamented with images and paintings, the latter mostly of a very +ordinary character. Occasionally a fine one arrests the visitor's +attention, and such examples are generally attributed to some famous +artist; whether correctly or not, it is impossible for any one but an +expert to decide. The date of these works, the proximity of Italy, and +the liberality of the people in artistic decoration of the churches +render quite possible the originality claimed for many of the best +paintings found in Malta. + +Several legends are current as to the origin of this Musta temple, but +they would hardly interest the average reader, though possessing a +certain emphasis and fascination when related to one standing beneath +the shadow of its lofty walls. When it was decided to erect the church, +for some special reason it was particularly desirable to have the new +edifice occupy the same site as the ancient structure already upon the +ground. The question arose as to how this should be brought about. +Knowing that the new temple must be years in course of construction, it +was thought best not to destroy the smaller existing church until a new +place of worship was completed. To meet this exigency, the one now +bearing the grand dome was built outside and over the old one, the +latter remaining undisturbed during the process. The dome, it is said, +was thus constructed without raising any staging around it. When the +walls and all of the new temple were finished, the old church was +demolished and the debris promptly removed. This was certainly a +remarkable architectural achievement. + +There are a dozen domes within the city walls, of less size, in view +from the same point which takes in the Musta Pantheon, as it is often +called. Many of the edifices to which they belong are costly structures, +but they are not elegant or attractive. There are a few fine paintings +in these city churches. One by Guido Reni in the church of Santa Maria, +representing Santa Ursula, is highly prized, and is often visited by +connoisseurs in art. It is doubtless an original. Unless one has a +considerable amount of leisure time to dispose of, after a thorough +inspection of the grand church of St. John, there remains little in the +same line worthy of attention in Valletta. A careful study of this +structure and the cathedral of Citta Vecchia will doubtless satisfy the +average traveler. + +There are said to be two hundred churches and chapels in the group, but +this is, we should think, an exaggeration. Nevertheless, it is certainly +true that a few less churches and a great many more schools would +redound to the well-being of the inhabitants. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + Public Library of Malta.--British Museum, London.--City + Circulating Library.--Museum of Valletta.--Interesting + Curiosities.--Birthplace of Hannibal.--Pawnbroker's + Establishment.--Savings Bank of the Monte di Pieta.--The + Baraccas.--A Superb View.--An Excursion Inland.--Ancient + Capital of Malta.--Citta Vecchia.--Toy Railway.--About the + Vatican at Rome.--An Ancient Cathedral.--Dungeons of the + Middle Ages. + + +The public library and museum of Valletta are in the same edifice, +adjoining the Grand Palace, the entrance being under the arcades facing +the Cafe de la Reine. This was the last building erected by the +fraternity of St. John in Malta. It contains a collection of over fifty +thousand volumes besides many choice manuscripts. The library is mostly +composed of the individual collections once owned by the Knights, each +of whom agreed to bequeath, at the close of life, his private +possessions in this line. Of course there were some studious and +scholarly men as well as many charlatans in the brotherhood. It now +forms a library of much more than ordinary importance, to which valuable +books are still added from time to time. The printed works can be taken +out for home use by any resident of Malta, under reasonable +restrictions, and even strangers are permitted this privilege, if they +are properly introduced by any responsible citizen. The shelves, as +might be supposed, are particularly rich in the literature of the +Middle Ages, containing some extremely interesting volumes, the work of +zealous old monks, some few of which are illumined with rare artistic +ability. The department of engravings is quite extensive, embracing some +examples of very ancient origin, especially curious and valuable. It is +true that nothing could possibly be cruder than some of these specimens, +wherein the rules of perspective, after the Chinese fashion, are +entirely ignored. Indeed, some of the objects attempted would seem to +require labeling to fix their character and purpose. + +This library was founded by Bailli de Tencin, who started the +institution with ten thousand volumes, his entire personal collection of +books, freely contributed for this purpose. It is true that +comparatively few persons avail themselves of the advantages here +offered, but an occasional priest, an elderly citizen, or a foreign +student is seen turning over the leaves of the ancient tomes. +Specialists sometimes visit Malta, coming from long distances solely to +consult this collection of books and manuscripts. An individual was +pointed out to the author who seemed to be very much interested in the +library, and who was said to be here in behalf of the British Museum, +London, to effect the transfer or exchange of certain duplicate volumes +in the collection to the grand, monumental library of the great English +metropolis. Our companion was a cultured Englishman, who spoke with just +pride relative to the London library. "Do you realize," he asked, "how +many books that noble institution contains?" We confessed a lack of +exact knowledge in the matter. "Well," said he, "there are to-day upon +its shelves, properly classified and catalogued, over one million and a +half of printed books, not to enumerate its many thousands of rare +manuscripts which are held of priceless value." + +The books in the Valletta collection are principally in Latin, Italian, +and French, but there is also a large assortment in other European and +in Asiatic tongues. + +The English residents maintain a well-supplied and constantly growing +subscription library, known here as the Garrison Library, situated in +St. George's Square. This resort forms a sort of ladies' club, where the +gentler sex congregate daily; they come to read, write, and to learn the +news. Here they have access to all the latest magazines and newspapers, +and here they gossip to their heart's content. Like Viesseux's +Circulating Library in Florence, or that in the square of the Spanish +Stairs, at Rome, such an institution is of as much benefit to travelers +as to the local inhabitants. There are a dozen newspapers published in +Valletta, about half of which are in English and the rest in Italian. +The number of volumes in the Garrison Library is about thirty-one +thousand. It is an indispensable acquisition in such an isolated spot, +helping to reconcile one to the fate of being forced to make Malta his +home. Army officers look upon an assignment to either this group or to +Gibraltar as anything but desirable, while entertaining a strong +preference for Malta. With the facilities and gayeties furnished by the +Union Club, these gentlemen of the sword and epaulet manage after a +fashion to exist. Public dinners are given, as well as balls and +assemblies, both by the governor at the palace and by the managers of +the club, each week during the season. This Union Club of Malta is +favorably known all over the continent of Europe for its hospitality and +general excellence. The hall of entrance to the club is very +artistically ornamented, and so is its elegant and spacious ball-room. + +The museum of Valletta did not escape the outrageous cupidity of the +French soldiery, who perpetrated more mischief in their senseless +destruction of antiquities than will ever be known in detail. Plunder +and spoliation were second nature to them, but they also spitefully +defaced escutcheons and armorial insignia which were the only available +keys wherewith to unlock the mysteries of the past. The Valletta museum, +notwithstanding its misfortunes, contains many curious and unique +specimens of antiquity, being almost entirely composed of such as have +been found upon the islands of this group. These consist of statuary, +vases, illumined marbles and very ancient coins, amphora of Egyptian +shape and mural urns. A considerable number of these and also some +beautiful Etruscan vases were found on the island of Gozo, and were +unearthed quite recently. One of the marble groups represents the +familiar subject of a wolf suckling the infants Romulus and Remus. +Another marble figure is a bust representing Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra. +This is in alto-relievo. Some of the metallic objects are too much +corroded by time and rust to enable one to divine their original +purpose, like the specimens seen in the museum at Naples exhumed from +buried Pompeii. There are three or four interesting medals exhibited +which are in excellent preservation, bearing Phoenician characters, +and some other articles which are inscribed in the same language. There +is one monument which evidently belongs to the period of the Goths, +besides a fine marble statue of Ceres, the product of the same period. +This was exhumed on the island of Gozo. A few medals bear Greek +inscriptions. There are some lachrymals and sepulchral lamps which came +from Roman tombs near Citta Vecchia, the ancient capital, also a couple +of terra-cotta sarcophagi from the same neighborhood. A square stone +slab of great interest bears a legend in Punic characters, designating +it as cut to mark the burial place of the famous Carthaginian general, +Hannibal. This was found in a natural Maltese cave near Ben-Ghisa. + +It is claimed that Hannibal was born on this island, and there is a +respectable, intelligent family now living near the city of Valletta who +bear the name of Barchina, and who assert themselves to be his +posterity. Menander, the celebrated orator, was born at Malta. Aulus +Licinius, whom Cicero styled the Aristotle of Malta, and Diodotus, the +philosopher and intimate friend of Cicero, were also born here. The +latter died half a century or more before Christ was born, which reminds +us that the "Sons of Malta" were representative men in Rome about two +thousand years ago. + +We were shown a small but highly valued and curious gold coin, which +must have been issued by the Arabs about the year 1090, though its date +could not be distinctly made out. It was in the possession of private +parties. On one side was an Arabic legend: "There is only one God, and +Mohammed is the prophet of God." On the reverse side was: "King Roger." +It will be remembered that Count Roger the Norman, son of Tancrede de +Hauteville, was declared King of Sicily and Malta about the close of the +tenth century. We were told that a hundred pounds sterling had been +offered for this coin not long since, by an agent of the British Museum, +London. + +The curiosities in this collection are not very numerous, but they are +extremely interesting. It is especially remarkable that so many highly +choice examples of antiquity should have been obtained in so limited a +space as the Maltese group, nor is the field exhausted. One cannot but +be impressed by these silent witnesses of the mutations to which these +islands have been subjected. + +A pawnbroker's establishment on an extensive scale occupies a long +building in the Strada Mercanti, opposite the city post-office, and is +under special government charge. It is an institution very similar in +its purpose and management to one existing in the City of Mexico, and +was established in 1507, its object being to afford prompt pecuniary aid +when needed by the native people, who are often in temporary distress. +The government regulates the rate of interest, which is placed at the +lowest figure compatible with the purpose of making the institution +self-supporting. It was in the first place a private enterprise, and +high rates of interest were charged for the use of money, but as it grew +in means and usefulness, it was taken in hand by the government, or +sovereign power for the time being. The Maltese women who have inherited +from parents or grandparents cherished articles of personal adornment, +such as jewelry and the like, prize the same far beyond the intrinsic +value, and if they are forced to pawn them for a period, they are very +sure to redeem them when they possess the means to do so. Since 1833, +solely with a philanthropic purpose, a savings bank has been added to +the pawn establishment. After half a century of experience, this branch +of the institution has proved to be of decided public benefit, promoting +frugality, industry, and self-respect among the common people of Malta. +It has been the means of changing the daily habits of many careless, +heedless individuals, who through its agency have gradually laid by a +foundation for acquiring a competency. In 1891 the deposits had reached +an aggregate of over two million five hundred thousand dollars. This is +a very large sum for such a community as constitute the humbler class +of Valletta. The number of depositors is set down at six thousand in the +last annual report. Any native may place here a sum as small as one +dollar, to which he can add from his savings similar sums at his +pleasure. When these deposits amount to one pound sterling, the money +begins to draw interest. Being under the control of government, it is +safely and honestly administered for the public good. An unsuccessful +effort was made by the author to obtain other details, as it seems to be +a subject of general interest, and a progressive move worthy of +imitation. + +The French, who respected neither religious nor charitable institutions, +even robbing the hospitals, and stealing right and left wherever they +appeared under Bonaparte,--the Alaric of his age,--plundered the Monte +di Pieta of Valletta, purloining therefrom about one hundred and fifty +thousand dollars, in small securities, left on deposit as collaterals by +the poor men and women of the capital! This ruined the institution +temporarily; and it was compelled, for the first time in about three +centuries, to close its doors. Such an unfortunate experience served to +confirm many of the ignorant Maltese in the Arab passion for burying +their money in the earth for safekeeping. This is a practice which they +have not wholly outlived, even at the present time, showing the tenacity +with which a people will adhere to the customs of their ancestors. After +the much-hated French were driven out of the island, a few liberal men, +who possessed the means, capitalized the Monte di Pieta at once, and by +energetic and honest effort it steadily regained its former position, +proving itself to be indeed a public charity. It benefits all classes, +makes no distinctions, and loans as high as three thousand dollars to +one individual. + +There are two Baraccas or parterres in connection with the line of +fortifications surrounding Valletta, which form favorite promenades of +the citizens. They are known as the Old and the New Baraccas, from +either of which fine and comprehensive views may be enjoyed. The latter +is preferable on account of the great extent of land and sea which it +commands, as well as for its beautiful garden. A study of the topography +of Malta from this point will enable the visitor to bring away with him, +impressed upon the tablets of his memory, a truthful map of the group. +Experience soon teaches the traveler to adopt this expedient when he +finds himself in any new locality which admits of so doing, until he +finally possesses many photographic pictures stored within his brain, +forming delightful reminiscences of which no misfortune can rob him. + +One of the most charming pictures which lives in the author's mind is +that of a bird's-eye view enjoyed from a lofty standpoint in the Maltese +capital, on a beautifully clear afternoon in early spring. The larger +portion of the yellow-hued city lay far below, with its myriads of +cream-colored, flat-roofed houses, and its thrifty, business-like +boulevard; while its many blooming fruit trees afforded warm bits of +color here and there. The Strada Reale recalled the Via Victor Emanuel +as seen from the top of the Milan cathedral. Both harbors of Valletta, +with their numerous shipping and stately warehouses, were in view. Half +a dozen iron-clads with their grim, threatening batteries formed a +prominent feature. The broad Mediterranean stretched far away to the +horizon, dotted at intervals by the picturesque maritime rig of these +waters, its placid surface now serene and quiet, radiating the afternoon +light like liquid sapphire. A fleet of gaudily emblazoned native boats +shot hither and thither over the near surface of the bay. Large, +broad-winged sea-gulls sailed lazily through the air, dipping now and +then into the water, and rising again upon outspread pinions of +stainless purity, dazzling as new-fallen snow. One or two long, +irregular lines of dark smoke, floating among the distant clouds, +pointed out the course of the big continental steamers bound east or +west. Far away to the northward, the conical outline of grand old Mount +AEtna, king of volcanoes, was faintly limned upon the sky which hung over +the Sicilian coast. + +How soft and summer-like was the still atmosphere, how suggestive the +comprehensive view! Can one who was brought up on these islands ever be +content to live in the cities of the mainland? How they must hunger for +a horizon! + +As we viewed the scene, the hum of the busy town rose upon the air like +the drone of insects in a tropical forest, mingled at the moment with +the soft chimes from the church of St. John. It was a fete day in +Malta, and other bells joined in the chorus which floated upward with +mellow cadence, creating a tender glow of peacefulness. While we gazed +half-entranced upon this varied scene, the sun declined serenely toward +its ocean bed, and slowly disappeared. At the same moment a sharp, +ringing report was heard from the flag-ship of the squadron, preceded by +a small puff of white smoke, which rose in circling wreaths from the +evening gun. Then the national colors came gracefully down by the +halliards from each peak and topmast head, and the brief twilight +following was steeped in the red and yellow afterglow of the departed +day, always so beautiful where sea and sky make the horizon, fading into +each other's embrace. + +How full of vitality and animated contrasts seemed the small world that +lay within the scope of vision as we gazed! But now it was the close of +day; both man and beast were ready to seek repose. Nature had set the +example. Even the sea-birds turned toward their night-haunts, where they +might fold their busy wings, as the war-ships had just furled their +pennants. + +What a delightful picture it was to hang in the gallery of one's memory, +often to be recalled by a single word or sound. + +Let us look inland from an advantageous point in the city of Valletta; +an undulating country presents itself to the eye, sparsely settled, with +here and there a small village, always dominated by its quaint stone +church, and divided round about, as already described, by high stone +walls designed to shelter the vegetation. A central rocky ridge is +observed running north and south, which divides the island of Malta +proper near its middle, the eastern side being the most extensive and +populous. This view does not reveal any of the small groves; these are +hidden in the few valleys where they exist, and the landscape is almost +entirely devoid of arboreal ornament. + +The people are few and the churches many, the latter quite out of +proportion to the number of the population or their pecuniary means. In +no other country, unless it be Mexico, is there such a manifest +disproportion in this respect. + +Two leagues away to the westward, upon a prominent elevation, the +highest point of the ridge referred to, Citta Vecchia is seen breaking +the line of the horizon. It is called the "old city" to distinguish it +from Valletta, the modern capital. At this distance it appears dim and +dusty, almost like a mass of ruins, and, indeed, in some respects it is +but little better. The stones of its best edifices are corrugated by the +finger of Time, for the old capital of Malta was founded many centuries +before the advent of Christ upon earth. One writer states that its +origin dates back to 1804 B. C., but upon what authority we know not. It +is a hill city, founded upon a rock, originally proud and pretentious in +its design. We can easily imagine its grandeur when ten times its +present population dwelt within the walls, and it was at the zenith of +its prosperity. To-day, hoary and decrepit with age, it is rich only in +the traditions of its past. Situated near the centre of the island, it +was under various sovereignties and during many ages the honored capital +of the group; but to-day, its dirty, gloomy, silent streets are +comparatively abandoned, and a general somnolence reigns in its +thoroughfares, though it is connected with Valletta by a narrow-gauge +railway, built some few years since,--the only one on the islands. This +is a mere toy railway, so to speak, after leaving which a broad, +well-kept road leads up a gentle ascent to the brown and dingy walls of +the crumbling old city. + +As we enter the ancient metropolis by its principal gate, a time-worn, +battered statue of Juno is passed, a figure which dates back to the +Roman period of possession here; and just within the walls the guide +points out the remains of a temple dedicated to Apollo. Everything is +gray and picturesque; dilapidation and neglect are everywhere apparent. +There are probably four or five thousand people still residing within +the city limits, not a tithe of the number which were once to be found +here. It is said that the walls which encompass the town formerly +embraced three or four times the present area, but they were contracted +to the present dimensions during the sovereignty of the Arabs, to make +them more easy of defense when besieged by an invading enemy. Citta +Vecchia flourished in times when might alone made right, and warfare was +the normal condition of the world. Malta was specially exposed to +invasion from various quarters by those who sought its capture, or for +purposes of plunder. Greek, Turkish, and Algerine pirates swarmed from +the Dardanelles to the Straits of Gibraltar, and when satisfactory +prizes were not to be found upon the open sea, inroads were organized +upon the land. It was therefore necessary for the people of Citta +Vecchia to be always prepared to repel an active and daring enemy, and +even to withstand successfully a protracted siege. + +Only the skeleton of a once great and thriving metropolis now remains. +The place has no commerce and no special industry, but is slowly fading +away into the dimness of the past. + +In wandering about the doleful streets of the ancient capital to-day, +one meets a swarm of plethoric priests, sandaled monks, and hooded +friars, while escorted from point to point by sad-looking, ragged, +importuning beggars. Where the first of these elements abound, the other +is sure to do so. This is a universal experience. Nowhere are the people +more absolutely subservient to the control of the priesthood, or more +completely subject to the exacting ordinances of the Roman Catholic +Church. The priests receive rental for at least one third of the land +which is occupied or cultivated on the islands. Unfortunately, this +money is not expended in a way to benefit, even indirectly, the +inhabitants of Malta. Nearly all the income from this source flows into +that great pecuniary receptacle and avaricious maw, the pontifical +treasury at Rome. There is no other palace in the world which is so +rich in hoarded treasures as the Vatican, the thrice voluptuous Roman +home of the Pope, where he lives surrounded by a populace which leads a +life of penury and semi-starvation. Little heeds he of such trifling +matters, while he "quaffs his Rhenish down." Appreciative travelers +speak of the "cold wilderness of the Vatican." This sensation is easily +accounted for. It is because this grand palace is so much more of a +museum than a home, or human habitation. It has been called, not +inappropriately, a congress of palaces, and, with two exceptions, is the +largest in the world. The Royal Palace at St. Petersburg and that of +Versailles exceed it somewhat in proportions, but by no means in the +richness and intrinsic value of its hoarded wealth. The accumulation of +original paintings and statuary, by the great masters of art, which are +stored in the Pope's palace would alone bring over thirty million +dollars, if sold to be added to the grand national collections open to +the public in various European cities. The value of other treasures of +the Vatican one would hardly dare to estimate, but the aggregate figure +would far exceed that named in connection with the paintings and +statuary. The gold in the Pope's plethoric treasury is to be added to +this estimate. With this enormous amount of riches lying perdue, and +being constantly added to, myriads who look upon the Pope as their +spiritual father actually starve on the banks of the Tiber, at his very +gates. + +But let us return to Citta Vecchia, whose site upon one of the spurs of +the Bingemma Hills was so well chosen. + +Much interest is felt by visitors in the ancient cathedral of the old +city, its mouldering monasteries, its convents, its theological school, +its hospitals, and its bishop's palace. The cathedral is said to be +built upon the site of the house formerly occupied by Publius, the Roman +governor of the island at the time of St. Paul's shipwreck, and who, if +tradition may be believed, was his ardent friend and follower. It has +two tall bell towers, a hundred and thirty feet in height, from which a +grand view of the Maltese group is enjoyed, the elevation being over +seven hundred feet above sea-level. The length of the edifice is nearly +two hundred feet, and it is about half as wide as it is long. The form +is that of a Latin cross. In effecting an entrance, one passes through +an army of mendicants, poor, miserable creatures, who with blind +credulity come hither in the hope of obtaining relief from their +sufferings, the most prevalent of which is gnawing hunger! + +The interior of the cathedral is very rich in gorgeous decoration. Like +the church of St. John, its roof is superbly painted. This work was done +by Vincenzo Manno, an eminent Sicilian artist, and represents scenes in +the life of St. Paul. The high altar is composed of the finest marble, +artistically wrought, and must have been very costly. The mosaic +tombstones which form the flooring, after the style of the Valletta +cathedral, are a marvel of patient workmanship, and produce a fine +effect. A picture of the Madonna is pointed out by the guide, which is +said to have been painted by St. Luke, and there are several presumed +relics of the Apostle Paul. In one of the chapels is a painting +representing the Apostle miraculously routing twenty thousand Moors, who +came to besiege the city. The site upon which the cathedral stands is so +elevated as to afford a most extensive view even from the terrace. + +Beneath the ancient Court of Justice near at hand, there are some damp +and dreary dungeons where human beings used to be confined ages ago, +dungeons which rival in horror those of the Doge's Palace at Venice, or +the direful cells beneath the Castle of Chillon, excavated under the +Lake of Geneva. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + Ancient Catacombs.--A Subterranean City.--Phoenician Tombs. + --Grotto of St. Paul.--A Crumbling Old Capital.--Dreary and + Deserted.--Bingemma Hills.--Ancient Coins and Antique + Utensils.--Ruins of a Pagan Temple.--A Former Fane to + Hercules.--A Garden of Delights.--Druidical Circles.-- + Beautiful Grotto.--Crude Native Dances.--Unique Musical + Instrument.--Nasciar.--Suburb of Floriana.--A Capuchin + Convent.--Grim Skeletons. + + +The stranger who comes to Citta Vecchia seems to inhale an atmosphere of +the Middle Ages which pervades everything in this quaint dwelling-place, +almost as old as the sacred city of Benares, the Hindoo Mecca, which was +famous before Rome was known, and when Athens was in its youth. Medina +was the old Arabic name by which it was known, but probably it had other +names in the far past. Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans reared their +dwellings upon its site, and have left evidences of their departed +glory. Historic memories and suggestions hang about its crumbling +monuments, its ruined ramparts, and its narrow footways. One of the most +remarkable attractions in the vicinity is the extensive system of +catacombs, which are very similar in many particulars to those of Rome, +and which, if we may believe local tradition, were once connected with +Valletta by a spacious tunnel. This would require a remarkable piece of +engineering. To perfect such a passageway through solid rock, though it +was comparatively easy to work, would involve a cost of time, labor, and +money which would be hardly at the command of a primitive race. If such +a tunnel did exist, it would nearly equal the Hoosac Tunnel of +Massachusetts, and would be at least five miles long. The entire length +of the catacombs as they now exist is computed to be fifteen miles, +though there are no authentic statistics about them. Their size and +regularity of construction have caused them to be called the +Subterranean City. They are hewn out of the rock at a depth of from +twelve to fifteen feet below the surface, small openings upward at +suitable intervals admitting the necessary fresh air. Torches or +lanterns are quite indispensable in visiting them, and a competent guide +should always be taken. A stranger might easily become confused and lost +among the intricacies of these dim, subterranean passages. Tradition +tells of a schoolmaster who attempted to explore these catacombs without +a guide, in company with a troop of his pupils, and, according to the +story, the whole party lost their way and perished miserably. + +There are several spacious halls among these underground galleries, the +roof of one being supported by a line of many fluted columns wrought out +of the solid rock, just as they stand. Here it is supposed that +religious or pagan ceremonies of some sort took place. A solid stone, +which might have served as a rude altar or place of sacrifice, was found +in the centre of the hall referred to. Portions of these catacombs have +been walled up in modern times, since a second party of visitors became +lost in them. Along the sides of the passages there are occasionally +excavations which seem to have been used for sleeping purposes, or +possibly for burial nooks, wherein the bodies were hermetically sealed +after death. There are places also which appear as if designed for +baking ovens; indeed, there are many special arrangements of so peculiar +a character that it is difficult to imagine their several uses. The +origin of the catacombs and their real design are lost in antiquity, but +they are known to have existed in the days of Roman sovereignty here, +that is, over two thousand years ago. They may have served both as tombs +and as hiding-places. The primitive Christians are believed to have fled +to them for refuge, and are thought to have used them also as tombs, and +yet if they ever contained any mural appointments they must have been +long since removed. There is nothing in these subterranean passages now +but the mouldering stones and an atmosphere of an earth-impregnated +character, suggestive of humanity turned to dust. Upon the whole, one +cannot but rejoice at leaving these damp, gloomy, mysterious passages +far behind. + +It suggests itself to the visitor that the large amount of rock which +must have been removed in the formation of this Subterranean City was +used for building purposes upon the surface of the island. Probably +Citta Vecchia itself, so near at hand, is largely composed of the +natural stone thus procured. A double purpose may thus have been +served,--the obtaining of means for building substantial habitations +above ground, and the forming of sepulchral avenues for tombs, +hiding-places, or for secret rites, either pagan or Christian. There +were times when Christians were compelled to worship here in secret. + +Near the entrance to the catacombs is the Grotto of St. Paul, over which +an unpretentious chapel is built, dedicated to the memory of the Apostle +to the Gentiles. He is supposed to have lived here during his three +months' sojourn upon the group, in which time he not only converted +Publius to Christianity, but also sowed the seed which bore fruit to the +same effect among nine tenths of the population. According to all +accounts, Christianity, as we construe the word, thus made its advent in +Malta with the shipwreck which took place in St. Paul's Bay, so many +centuries ago. In the middle of the grotto just spoken of is a crudely +executed statue of the Apostle. The visitor is assured that the stone of +this cavernous apartment is remarkable for its efficacy in the cure of +fevers and of poisonous bites. Credulous people secure pieces thereof, +and keep them on hand for use in an emergency. A story is told of the +miraculous nature of the grotto stone, to wit: it seems that, although +it is constantly cut away to supply the demand for it as a remedial +agent, yet it never becomes less, but is always replaced by unknown +means. The many legends relating to St. Paul and his stay upon the group +are most religiously cherished and believed in at Malta, and it would +be considered little less than an insult, by a native, to question their +verity. If there is any truth in profane or sacred history, we are quite +ready to believe that St. Paul was wrecked on the island of Malta, and +that the outline of the story as handed down to us is veracious; and +yet, who is it that says, "History is only a fable agreed upon"? + +Some few descendants of the old Maltese nobility, as empty in purse as +are their titles in any real value, keep up a degree of appearances in +their moss-grown and decaying "palaces," so called by courtesy, while +other edifices, once grand and pretentious, are either quite untenanted, +or are occupied for commercial purposes. The town forcibly reminds one +of Toledo, on the banks of the Tagus in Spain, which is equally dead and +deserted, and probably of as ancient origin. Its grand edifices are now +diverted to storage purposes, and its palaces closed. Here, in the day +of Spanish glory, royal pageants alternated with ecclesiastic parades, +and grand military displays often varied the scene. Coveted by various +conquerors, she too had been besieged more than twenty times. Like Citta +Vecchia, her glory was at its acme in mediaeval days. + +In an endeavor to keep up the importance of the old Maltese capital +under the rule of the Order of St. John, it was required that each new +Grand Master of the Knights should come hither to be inaugurated, and +here, the precedent having been established, each new bishop of the +island is still consecrated. There are several other official acts which +are not considered binding unless they are first promulgated at Citta +Vecchia. So in Russia there are certain state ceremonials, such as the +crowning of a new Czar, or the marriage of a royal pair, which must be +performed at Moscow, the ancient metropolis of the empire, +notwithstanding the fact that St. Petersburg is so much more populous, +and is the capital as well as the royal residence. But in this instance +the old Muscovite capital is in perfect condition, so to speak, +picturesque and beautiful, and never more populous and prosperous than +it is to-day. Citta Vecchia, one can easily see, must once have been a +proud and stately city, surrounded by high walls and stout bastions, but +its glory has long since departed. Ptolemy eulogized it in his day under +the title it then bore,--Melita. The once formidable walls are now in a +crumbling, neglected condition. Indeed, the charm of the old place +consists in its memories alone. It was growing less populous yearly when +Valletta was begun, more than three hundred years ago; the completion of +the new city acted as a finishing stroke to its social and commercial +interests. So rapidly was the ancient capital deserted by its +inhabitants, who sought homes in the new metropolis, that, as we have +intimated, ingenious laws were devised to make it more attractive to its +residents. + +During the dominion of the Knights, Citta Vecchia was governed by a +ruler chosen from the native Maltese citizens by the Grand Master, a +custom which was cunningly designed to satisfy the native population by +holding forth the idea that it was an independent, self-governing +district. When the Knights first came to Malta, they were specially +considerate of the native people, conciliating the populace in every +possible way, but after they had thoroughly established themselves upon +the island and become firmly seated, they ruled the natives with a rod +of iron. In later years they had become so arbitrary and exacting that +the Maltese were quite ready, when the time came, to bid them farewell, +and to welcome their new masters, the English. + +The Grand Master, Matino Garzes, made Citta Vecchia a place of refuge, +as it were. It was decreed that all persons who lived permanently within +its walls should be free from arrest for debt during a certain period. +If any of its citizens committed an offense outside of its walls, giving +cause for civil complaint, the case must be tried only in the local +tribunals of Citta Vecchia. These and many other special enactments, +though designed to particularly favor the residents of the old capital, +failed to have the desired effect. The people gradually removed to the +more attractive seaport, fascinated by its scenes of busy life, its +freshness and cleanliness, together with its charming site, all were in +such broad contrast to the drowsy, cheerless inland resort which crowns +the Bingemma Hills. + +There is plenty of evidence hereabout to show that this was of old the +great centre of life upon the island of Malta, and that more than one +race was here in large and thriving numbers, each of whom ruled for a +period of longer or shorter duration, and then passed away. Conjecture +alone can fill up the gap between the known and the unknown, traceable +by crumbling monuments and suggestive ruins. + +Not far from Citta Vecchia, clearly attesting to the great antiquity of +this mid-island neighborhood as a populous centre, the hills--Bingemma +Mountains, the Maltese call them--are thickly occupied by Phoenician +tombs excavated in the solid rock, "pathetic monuments of banished men." +Out of these tombs curious articles have often been taken, and such are +still occasionally found in them. It is plain that the primitive people +who formed these rock-tombs possessed good tools and an aptitude for +using them; also that they had a cultured taste in architecture, +adhering to a certain purity of order in their designs wherever +exhibited, whether in tomb or temple. The resemblance of these caves at +Bingemma to the sepulchral grottoes which still exist in the environs of +Tyre and Sidon is remarkable. The latter, it will be remembered, was the +early seat of the Phoenician kingdom, in which fact we have evidence +of a common parentage between the two people who built them. + +Strangers are offered apocryphal coins by itinerant peddlers, which +purport to have been current in Malta when ancient tribes were masters +of the group; but common sense teaches us that original and genuine +articles in this line must have been exhausted centuries ago. There are +also urns and domestic pottery on sale at Citta Vecchia, supposed to +have been in use among the Phoenicians. The survival of such articles +for the period of two or three thousand years is too great a tax upon +one's credulity to be patiently entertained. While in Egypt, the author +saw an insignificant article purchased of a peddler by an English lady, +which was said to have been exhumed at ancient Thebes, and for which she +paid five pounds sterling. An expert in such matters afterward showed +the lady certain unmistakable marks upon the object she had purchased, +which proved to her that it had been manufactured at Birmingham, +England, for this purpose. There are other articles offered for sale at +Citta Vecchia, which are after the Greek style, and still more which are +Roman in design. Some of the latter appear to be genuine, but who can +tell? The imitation serves every purpose, one must freely admit, +provided only the imitation be correct. + +Many ruins of temples, tombs, and prehistoric monuments exist between +the site of the old city and the coast, especially toward the south, +most of which are attributed to the Romans; but there are also others +which the Romans must have found here when they came. Antiquarians +believe they can identify the period to which most of these +"black-letter records of the ages" individually belong. Without doubt +sufficiently complete portions of some of them are still extant to +serve for this purpose, though the rust of twice ten centuries has +crumbled and disintegrated some of the largest stones. + +So late as 1839, a very spacious edifice was exhumed south of the +ancient capital, which, so far as regards its almost complete +preservation in all essentials, together with many antiquities which it +contained, proved to be even more interesting than the greater Giant's +Tower, on the island of Gozo. It closely resembled that structure, and +is believed beyond doubt to be the work of the same race, though it is +not of such mammoth proportions. Implements of husbandry, domestic +utensils, and large jars formed of baked clay, supposed to be designed +for oil and wine, were found in this singular structure. To us it seemed +to be clearly of Phoenician origin. It is thought by many that this +people had their capital in the group near this spot, possibly +antedating Citta Vecchia, but this is all conjecture. In the +neighborhood of these ruins, considerably nearer to the sea, are more +remains of a similar character, which have not yet been so fully +uncovered, and there are many other indications showing that this +vicinity must once have been a populous district. The shore for some +seven miles in either direction is so precipitous as to form an +inaccessible barrier on this side of the island. Vestiges of a fane to +Hercules are also found near the coast. Quintius speaks of this temple, +and describes it as embracing a circle of no less than three miles! +Cicero speaks of a temple of Juno, at Malta, as being remarkable for its +splendor in his day, but one naturally hesitates at entertaining the +theory of a temple existing here whose base covered a circle of three +miles. + +Less than a league from Citta Vecchia, in nearly the same direction, the +visitor will find a delightful valley, forming a garden-like expanse, +called El Boschetto, or "little forest," where inviting shade trees, +fruits, flowers, and fountains abound. This is sure to prove an +agreeable surprise to the stranger. A superficial view of Malta gives no +promise of any such gem as this oasis in the rocky expanse of the +island. Had Homer chosen El Boschetto for the abode of his Siren, it +would not have been necessary to draw upon his poetical fancy to make +its attractiveness apparent. Like San Antonio, it is a small rural +paradise, watered by artificial canals, and having an abundant spring +and fountain combined. Picnic parties are made up in Valletta to visit +this charming spot, and others sometimes come from the old city on the +hill, just as the populace used to do, no doubt, hundreds of years ago. +On the festal days of St. Peter and St. Paul, this valley is thronged. +The place is overlooked by a large square tower, which was formerly one +of the summer resorts of the governors of Malta, but which is now in a +crumbling condition. It crowns Monte Verdala, named for the Grand Master +who built the tower, and was once a palatial residence occupied by Hugo +de Verdalle, who gathered about him various skilled artisans from Italy +to ornament, fresco, and beautify the place. Some of the evidences of +his regal manner of living here are still extant within the spacious +walls. The site was shrewdly chosen, and from its windows the view is +both rural and lovely. Verdalle is represented to have been a man of the +most selfish and sensual nature, who thought of little else except his +own personal enjoyment. He died in 1595, tormented if not absolutely +killed by gout, induced by riotous living and constant self-indulgence. +He was truly a typical Knight of St. John, but as Grand Master, how +unlike La Vallette! + +A little south of El Boschetto is the palace, so-called, which was once +occupied as the summer resort of the iniquitous and jesuitical crew who +represented the Inquisition for a considerable period in Malta, but who +were finally expelled in disgrace from the island. It was here that a +vile and characteristic conspiracy was hatched by several members of the +institution in connection with some Spanish Knights, to murder the Grand +Master, La Cassiera, in 1657, but this purpose of cold-blooded +assassination was discovered and frustrated. It was no new thing for the +officers of the Inquisition to resort to secret murder to further their +vile purposes. Like the Council of Ten in old Venetian days, the +assassin's dagger was made one of their ordinary instruments by which to +rid themselves of enemies whom they feared to attack openly. This +building, with its vile associations, is now the property of the +British government. The immediate vicinity is a very fertile and +fruitful region, and contains a famous spring called Ain-el-Kibra. +Irrigation is systematically applied all over this district. Two miles +or less from the inquisitor's palace is a place known as Fanara. It +overlooks the sea, and is much resorted to by picnic parties. Here is +the head of the new aqueduct, called new in distinction from the old one +already described. + +Some of the most remarkable ruins in Malta are to be seen within a mile +of this spot, consisting of masses of Phoenician masonry, called by +the natives Gebel Quim, that is, "stones of worship," reminding one of +the ancient Druidical circles, forming a strange jumble of rude altars, +colossal stones, and mysterious nooks and niches. + +At El Mnaidre, which signifies "the sheepfold," are more ruins of a +similar character, said to be the remains of a temple originally +dedicated to AEsculapius. We are here near the brink of the cliff +overlooking the sea, taking in a distant view of the rocky island of +Filfla, which looks like a huge whale come up from the depths to blow, +and pausing for a few moments upon the surface of the blue expanse. In +the face of the perpendicular rock sea-gulls find a safe home, where +they lay their eggs and rear their young. Instinct teaches them that +this abrupt cliff-formation is inaccessible to man. Flocks of these +white-winged birds are seen wheeling round about the locality, +especially at night and morning, together with the so-called +rock-pigeons, a sea-bird which also abounds upon the coast. It is a +lonely shore hereabout, with only an occasional ancient stone tower +commanding a view of the far-reaching Mediterranean. In troublous times +watch was kept from these stone structures, for the coming of Barbary +corsairs, or a possible Turkish inroad. There are a dozen or more of +these lookout stations, placed at suitable distances from each other. +They were built by Grand Master Martin de Redin more than two hundred +years ago, at his own expense, and form conspicuous objects on +approaching Malta from the northwest. They are now occupied by the +coast-guard placed here to watch for smugglers. + +In the southwest part of the island, besides many more rock-cut tombs, +there are also some conspicuous ruins, showing the former existence here +of a large town, concerning which no other information survives. This +may also possibly have antedated the Phoenician period. One is led to +marvel that even the destructive power of time could have swept a large +and fixed population from the island, and have left no clearer record of +their existence behind them. The vicinity in which these ruins are found +affords a dreary prospect at present, whatever it may have been at some +former period. There is a trying meagreness in the landscape. One is +homesick for want of color. Everything except the sea is gray, while the +broad-spread rocky surface of the island is cheerless and repelling. +There are many caves on this southwest coast, some of which seem to +have been utilized as dwelling-places by a primitive people. Here and +there the calcareous rock has been worn into singular forms by +atmospheric influences and the incessant wash of the sea for ages, as +one sees the same material wrought upon at Biarritz, on the boisterous +Bay of Biscay. In one inlet there is a cavern very like the Blue Grotto +of Capri, in the Bay of Naples. Not far away is a natural arch, so broad +and high that a full-rigged ship of six hundred tons might sail through +it, with all her canvas spread and yards squared. + +There are numerous heaps of ruins besides those we have mentioned, on +this side of the group, each one a history in itself, though nearly +effaced by time, written in a tongue which our scholars strive in vain +to unlock. The neighborhood is a Sahara of solitude, the scene of +gardens deserted long ago, abandoned vineyards, and palatial edifices +now nearly or quite crumbled to dust. + +About six or seven miles from Valletta, near the hamlet of Casal Crendi, +there is a most singular oval depression of the land, about a hundred +and forty feet in depth, at the bottom of which is an orchard of fruit +trees. The ground about the grove is quite level, and measures over +three hundred feet in length by two hundred in width. Rugged and uneven +stone steps lead down the precipitous sides of this land basin. Nature +must have been in a very erratic mood when she created this singular +depression, at which the average visitor gazes with curious and puzzled +eyes. There is a gradual sinking of the country round about, until it +centres abruptly in the manner described. The place is known as Tal +Macluba, that is, "the overturned." The natives have a tradition about +the place to the effect that a casal once existed here, but the people +being unbelievers, and defiant towards the Almighty, the earth suddenly +opened, swallowing the village and the occupants thereof at a single +gulp. + +Geologists explain the creation of this cylindrical hollow in a much +more reasonable and satisfactory manner. + +These islands, as we have shown, are full of caves, formed by the +processes of nature, especially on the shores, where they are multiplied +by the ceaseless action and combinations of chemicals. Probably a +cavern, which had been ages in forming below this spot, finally +collapsed, and let the surface earth sink to fill the space it had so +long occupied. There is no evidence of any village or hamlet having ever +been situated near to this depression of the earth. + +A similar hollow, of nearly the same dimensions, exists also in the +island of Gozo, at Kaura. + +In the neighborhood of this chasm, of which we have spoken at length, +and of Casal Crendi, one is besieged by a swarm of beggars. The latter +place is a small agricultural village of more than usual importance. Its +ancient stone church contains some very interesting paintings, the +principal one of which bears the name of Rocco Buhagiar, who has also +some meritorious pictures in the churches of Valletta. + +There is an ancient quarry near Crendi, in one of the cavities of which +some curious Roman remains have been found. A small bronze statue of +Hercules, perfect with the exception of one foot, was exhumed from this +place. It is a highly valuable memento of the far past, and should +certainly be in the museum at Valletta; but it is in private hands at +present. A very singular medal was also discovered in the crevices of +the rocks near the place where the Hercules was found. It has on the +convex side figures of soldiers in armor, and on the concave a group +which is supposed to represent Lot and his daughters. This medal is not +in the museum; but the custodian of the institution will give any +inquirer such information as will enable him to get sight of it. + +In the little inland villages of stone cabins a pastoral air prevails; +but one occasionally witnesses novel scenes and unique performances, +such as small groups of peasantry dancing after a style erratic enough +to suit a Comanche Indian. The accompanying music, on the occasion we +refer to, was produced by a home-made instrument, which reminded one of +a Scotch bagpipe, only it was, if possible, still more trying to the +ears and nerves. It is known here as a _zagg_. It is made of an inflated +dog-skin, and is held under the musician's arm, with the defunct +animal's legs pointing upward. A sort of pipe is attached to this +air-bag, which is played upon with both hands. It is hardly necessary to +say that a more ungainly instrument could not well be conceived. A +tambourine accompaniment, performed by another party, is usually added +to the crude notes of the dog-skin affair. To the music of these simple +instruments the bodies of the dancers sway hither and thither in a +singular and apparently purposeless manner. There was, however, a +certain uniformity in the movements of the participants which showed +design of some sort. The dancers seemed to lose themselves in the +process, and to enjoy the queer pantomime, after a fashion. For +significance of purpose, or poetic design, this exhibition will not +compare with the tarantella, which the peasantry dance in southern +Italy, or with the dashing firefly dance of the common women of St. +Thomas, in the West Indies. + +A league to the westward of Valletta is situated Casal Nasciar, which is +perched upon a steep hilltop, and forms a good type of an ordinary +Maltese village. Its stone church is nearly two centuries old, and +contains some interesting relics. The people native here claim for their +ancestors that they were the first in the group to receive Christian +baptism, a matter which they deem to be of immense importance. Just +outside of the village there is a statue of St. Paul, who is said to +have preached upon the spot where it stands. The site of this Casal +Nasciar is peculiar, being upon the summit of a great geological +"fault," of which there are two or three striking examples in the group. +The view from this village is far-reaching and beautiful, embracing +certain portions of the island which are under high cultivation. + +One sees a different people in these interior towns or villages, the +inhabitants being more thoroughly Maltese than those of cosmopolitan +Valletta. After once looking upon the rich and fertile plains of +Nasciar, one no longer feels inclined to call Malta "only a sterile +rock." + +Among the peasantry, stalwart, light-haired fellows are often met, with +bright faces and clear blue eyes, quite in contrast to their companions. +To account for the presence here of this type, we must go back and +inquire of the gallant, priestly Knights of St. John, whose elaborate +vows of celibacy were thinner than the parchment on which they were +written. The roads between the casals are, as a rule, excellent, the +rocky surface making them, as it were, naturally macadamized; but they +are so dusty as to be very trying to the eyes and lungs, impregnated as +the atmosphere is all through the dry season with the fine silex of the +friable surface rock. The dwellings of the people are flat-roofed and +all of stone, the abundant native material. + +To reach Citta Vecchia from the present capital of Malta, one leaves +Valletta by the Porta Reale, the outlet of the city proper toward the +country. The town is closed by three gates,--that which has just been +named, the Porta Marsamuscetto, leading to Quarantine Harbor, and the +Marina Gate, conducting to Grand Harbor. Having crossed the broad +drawbridge which spans the deep, wide, artificial ditch, on looking back +one realizes how thoroughly the city proper is cut off from inland +access when this drawbridge is raised. There is no part of the elaborate +system of engineering for defensive purposes which does not seem to be +as nearly perfect as is possible for such works. The entire design is +masterly, and the consummation admirable. + +After crossing into Floriana, we are still surrounded by a cordon of +elaborate fortifications, demi-lunes, curtains, and ditches. This suburb +is so named for the engineer who planned this curious and intricate maze +of ravelins and bastions. This was Pietro Paolo Floriani. The place +might have been thus appropriately called on account of its gardens, +verdure, and flowers. As soon as the bridge is crossed, there lies +before us a level space designed for military parades, an esplanade +large enough for manoeuvring two or three thousand troops. The ditch +which separates the city from Floriana is intended as a final barrier to +any invasion from the land side; it is nearly a thousand yards long, +sixty feet deep, and thirty wide, cut out of the natural rock, and +reaches from Quarantine to Grand Harbor. + +It is customary for strangers coming hither to visit the church of San +Publio, a curious old sanctuary full of altars, pictures, and cheap +images, together with any amount of tawdry gilding. Here one sees +innumerable emblems, such as arms, legs, ears, feet, and hands, +represented in wax, silver, and wood, hanging upon the walls, thus +placed as thank-offerings for cures experienced by various sufferers. So +the temples of Japan represented centuries ago, and do so still, a +similar custom, each emblem being specially dedicated to the deity or +spirit which received credit for the donor's cure. + +The streets of Floriana intersect each other at right angles. The +central and principal one, Strada Santa Anna, is a broad thoroughfare, +with attractive and sheltering arcades on either side. In the Piazza +Maggiore is the Soldier's and Sailor's Home, an excellent charitable +institution, furnished with a good serviceable library, a reading and +writing room, smoking and other rooms. This admirably conceived and +philanthropic organization is calculated to greatly benefit and improve +the class for whom it is designed, affording them not only respectable +accommodations, but occupation for their leisure hours. There is a +similar institution in the city proper, which we should not fail to +mention. It is situated in the Strada Cavaliere, "Street of the +Knights," forming a resort for sailors, soldiers, and marines, and +conducing to their moral and intellectual improvement. It is very +judiciously managed by a committee of European citizens, and to +strangers is certainly significant of the spirit of progress which seems +to prevail among the officials at Malta. + +There is a well-arranged theatre in Floriana, the Princess, where +amateur performances mostly occupy the stage. The botanical gardens of +this section afford a charming exhibition of a floral and arboreal +character, where the genial climate seconds the tasteful efforts of the +intelligent florist. This suburb of the capital contains many fine +dwellings, shops, and manufacturing establishments. There are also +extensive barracks, and one or two regiments of English infantry are +always quartered here. + +In Floriana are situated the numerous spacious vaults, cut out of the +solid rock, for the storage of grain to support the garrison and +populace in case Malta were compelled to sustain a long siege. Here, +too, are the catacombs belonging to the old Capuchin convent, founded in +1588, where the dead bodies of the brotherhood are preserved, clad in +their usual robes and arranged in sitting postures, filling nooks in the +walls. Here and thus they remain for many, many years, until the slow +process of decay crumbles both body and bones to dust. This is a +Sicilian idea early imported into these islands, "a custom," we should +say, "more honored in the breach than the observance." These dreary, +cadaverous corpses are supported in the positions which they are made to +assume by means of steel wires hidden beneath their scanty robes. If +this strange mode of disposing of human bodies after death has any +really worthy and reasonable purpose, or if it is of any possible +advantage to the quick or the dead, we are too obtuse to believe it. +Sightseers call a visit to the sepulchral chamber, "going to see the +Baked Monks," it being generally believed that the bodies go through +some toasting or drying process which preserves them. + +About the walls of this mortuary chamber myriads of bleached human +bones of beings who died centuries ago are fantastically arranged. From +this collection ghostly skulls peer at the visitor with a sort of +derisive, satanic grin. Perhaps it will be argued that all this is +calculated to suggest the fleeting nature of earthly things, but the +moral is too far-fetched. The uncanny smell of the place still haunts +us, like the mummy flavor from certain receptacles in Cairo and +Alexandria. We were told that this mode of disposing of the deceased +monks had been discontinued, that they were now buried like other bodies +after death, and that the Church of Rome tolerated such exposure of the +mortal remains of the faithful simply as a check to human pride. "To +this complexion must we come at last." We were not convinced by the +explanation of the propriety or desirability of these mummy exhibitions. + +A somewhat similar display of skeletons, but without drapery of any +sort, may be seen under the Hospital for Incurables at Valletta, in what +is termed La Chapelle des Morts, where bleached skulls and whitened +bones are stored in fantastic shapes by the thousand. Both this and the +Floriana chamber naturally recalled the charnel-house of the Capuchin +church in Rome. This church, it will be remembered, contains Guido's +renowned Archangel Michael. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + The Chivalric Order of St. John.--Humble Beginning of the + Organization.--Hospitallers.--Days of the Crusades.--Motto + of the Brotherhood.--Peter Gerard.--The Monk lost in the + Soldier.--At Acre, Cyprus, and Rhodes.--Naval Operations. + --Siege of Rhodes.--Garden of the Levant.--Piratical Days. + --Six Months of Bloodshed.--Awful Destruction of Human + Life.--A Famous Fighting Knight.--Final Evacuation of + Rhodes by the Order. + + +Our story of Malta would be incomplete unless we gave a succinct and +consecutive account of the famous Order of the Knights of St. John, to +whom we have so often alluded in the foregoing pages, and who have left +upon this island more of their personality than all the other +sovereignties that preceded or have succeeded them. While we freely +reprehend their many and glaring faults, we are forced to admire and +praise their energy, their heroic bravery, and their undoubted spirit of +enterprise. Providence saw fit to raise up this fraternity for its own +good purpose, and perhaps it was the one element needed to cope with the +exigencies of the troublous times in which they flourished. They played +their important and tragic part in the great drama of the ages, and +passed away. The ashes of their last representatives now lie beneath the +mortuary mosaics of the church of St. John. + +The beginning of the organization was, as already intimated, of a very +humble character, but being in its purpose founded upon true Christian +principles, it challenged at the outset the just admiration of many +sincere and devout people, who gladly joined in furthering its estimable +object, and thus it grew, though very slowly at first, until finally it +became a great power throughout the civilized nations, exercising in its +day a vast degree of both religious and political influence. The Grand +Masters of the order took position among the highest potentates of the +age, and were given the post of honor next to that of royalty itself, at +all assemblies of state to which they were called. + +A few sincere, energetic, and practical individuals, said to have been +Italian merchants from Amalfi, then belonging to the kingdom of Naples, +impressed by the peculiar exigencies of the time and place, solemnly +joined themselves together as a sacred fraternity, at Jerusalem, by +taking upon themselves vows of indissoluble brotherhood, and of chastity +and poverty. Little did the pious, self-abnegating Peter Gerard, the +accredited father of the Hospitallers, when collecting a few friends +together at his own humble dwelling in the latter part of the tenth +century, realize that he was then and there founding an order whose +power should presently become the main prop of Christianity, as +sustained against the energetic inroads of the Ottoman power. The avowed +purpose of these men thus banded together was to devote their lives to +the care and protection of poor, oppressed, and sick pilgrims, who had +come from afar to the sacred city as the Mecca of their religious +faith. After a considerable period of usefulness in the direction +indicated, and seeing the possibilities before them, they obtained +permission from the Caliph of Egypt to found a hospital for the use of +the sick and the needy, but especially in behalf of those who came from +foreign lands to visit the Holy Sepulchre. The rapid increase in the +service they had assumed soon demanded the erection of a second +hospital, or annex, one being devoted to women and the other to men. +This enlarged capacity soon rendered it necessary to create a sisterhood +of regular nurses, composed of self-devoted women actuated by the same +Christian sentiments which had given rise to the formation of the +brotherhood. The hospice prospered beyond the most sanguine hopes of its +originators. Grateful pilgrims who had shared its hospitalities, on +returning to their distant homes, spread the fame of its charities all +over Europe, thus arousing the warmest enthusiasm, and liberal +contributions of money were freely given in its behalf. To meet the +necessities of the case, a chapel was in time duly added to the hospice, +thus forming a very complete and well-organized whole, which may be said +to have been the cradle of the afterward famous Order of the Knights of +Malta. + +There can be no reasonable doubt that the early members of the +fraternity, when they were best known as Hospitallers, were entirely +consistent in their object, as it was announced to the world, and that +they were actuated solely by the highest sense of duty and of Christian +endeavor. The sick were healed, the hungry fed, an economical and +unostentatious hospitality was exercised toward one and all, and good, +effective, charitable work was constantly performed. These +self-appointed servants of the poor and unfortunate were sincere +followers of the Master, and devoted to his service. Those who were at +this time in power at Jerusalem, though professed Mohammedans, were +apparently won by the liberality of the organization, in freely +extending its charities to all of the native population who applied for +aid. Christian and infidel fared alike in sharing the benefits of the +hospice. No unfortunate one was turned away from its gates empty-handed, +when actual want drove him to supplicate for the Christian's aid. If +such were poor and needy, these were the only credentials required to +command the free services of the brotherhood of Hospitallers, who +derived this name from their special care of the sick, and by it they +were solely known in the early days at Jerusalem. Their governing motto +was: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my +brethren, ye have done it unto me." + +As we have said, generous, sympathetic people all over Europe subscribed +liberally toward the support of this sacred charity; the Hospitallers +became the almoners of their spontaneous bounty. Prince and peasant alike +contributed, each one in accordance with his means. All were enthusiastic +and cheerful givers. This condition of affairs was, however, abruptly +changed by the new conquerors of the country,--warlike Turks, who +ignored the tolerance of their Mussulman predecessors. They at once +instituted a system of persecution with regard to the Christians which +became intolerable, and which almost entirely obstructed the design and +the operations of the organization of the Hospitallers. It was thus in +self-defense that the fraternity gradually developed into a band of +soldier-monks and armed physicians, adding to their original vows a new +and important clause, binding themselves to combat with warlike weapons +on all suitable occasions in behalf of their religious faith, and to +protect themselves with arms in their hands from their infidel +oppressors. + +It was not long after the Hospitallers were driven from the sacred city, +and their leader, Peter Gerard, imprisoned, that the remarkable +expeditions known in history as the Crusades were organized, their +object being the rescue of Jerusalem from the possession of the Turks. +This uprising of Europeans finally resulted in the capture by them of +the ancient city, under the command of Godefroi de Bouillon, the +illustrious leader of the first Crusade, in 1099. All Christendom +rejoiced. Peter Gerard was released from his dungeon, and the banner of +the cross superseded that of the crescent in the province of Judaea. One +of the great epochs of history at the close of the tenth century was +when Godefroi was proclaimed first Christian king of Jerusalem. + +Nearly eight hundred years have passed away since this interesting era +of the world's progress, and one pauses reflectively to realize and to +moralize over the fact that the "Holy Land" is still Mohammedan. It is +the crescent, not the cross, which floats to-day upon the breezes of +Palestine. No Peter the Hermit preaches a new Crusade in this nineteenth +century, to recover possession of the Holy Sepulchre. + +We are writing of a period when personal prowess was considered the +great essential of true manhood. Learning and the sciences were left to +monks and the cloister. The profession of arms, therefore, attracted all +noble and ambitious youths,--it was in fact the only path open to +chivalric purposes, and which led to high preferment. The spirit of the +age was one of superstition and veneration combined, so that it was easy +to raise a host of brave followers for the purpose of fighting the +Moslems, and of rescuing Jerusalem from their possession. A belief that +the shedding of one's blood in such a cause not only purchased +forgiveness for all sins, but also insured to the soldiers of the cross +the future joys of heaven, prevailed in those days among high and low, +throughout Europe. Recruits for the ranks of the Crusaders required no +urging. They marched at first, like an impetuous mob, in myriads toward +the East, and were defeated, as a matter of course; but learning wisdom +by experience, they duly organized themselves, and victory followed. + +Though the avowed purpose of the brotherhood of whom we write was one of +charity, peace, and good-will toward men, of self-abnegation and +devotion to good works, especially embracing the idea of nursing the +sick, still, owing to the exigencies of the situation, as we have shown, +the organization gradually developed into a complete military order, and +presently came to be known the world over as the Knights of St. John; +the significant and at first strictly appropriate title of Hospitallers +was over-shadowed by the more soldierly one of Knights. Their first +military duty was that of escorting pilgrims to and from the coast, +guarding them from the frequently fatal violence of the natives. The +field of their operation became rapidly enlarged, and they grew to be +more and more warlike, until presently the soldier got the better of the +monk, and from acting only in self-defense at the outset, the order +eventually became boldly aggressive. Their ranks were recruited by +soldierly additions from among the Crusaders, and their banner of the +white cross floated victoriously over many a hard fought field of +battle, when the Christians were fiercely struggling with the possessors +of Palestine. + +From Jerusalem the order removed to Acre, in Syria, about the year 1187, +where Richard Coeur de Lion established a headquarters for the +Knights, and here they remained as an organization for about one hundred +years, devoting themselves only in part to their original design as a +religious and charitable body, but redoubling their belligerency toward +the Moslems. An opportunity for conflict was never avoided by these +military monks, and unless they were beset by ten times their own +numbers, the Knights were almost certain to be victorious. Finally, +overpowered by the Turks, in a terrific and decisive battle, they were +expelled from Acre, those who escaped the awful massacre taking refuge +in Cyprus. This was in the year 1291. In this island, which Richard I. +of England captured from the Saracens, the order maintained itself for +the comparatively brief period of twenty years; but at last, forced to +abandon the place, they seized upon the island of Rhodes, about the year +1310, which was then in the possession of Mohammedan pirates and Greek +rebels. The Knights were not in open warfare against Greece, though they +bore its people no special good-will. The Greeks had secretly opposed +the Crusaders, and by treachery had aided the Turks on more than one +important occasion. + +We were speaking of the seizure of the island of Rhodes, which was a +matter of no small importance, and to accomplish which involved +herculean efforts at the very outset. + +The enemy were so well organized and so thoroughly equipped with +defensive material, that it required four years of incessant and +vigorous warfare before the Knights finally gained undisputed +sovereignty on the island. In this sanguinary and protracted struggle +the order was nearly exterminated, losing hundreds of its best and +bravest members, but their places were gradually filled by fresh +acquisitions from Europe. There was a spirit of emulation in the ranks +of the Knights, as to the exhibition of bravery and prowess exercised +against the enemy, which often led them to great personal exposure, and +to the performance of heroic deeds. The individual conflicts were +frequently characterized more by rashness than by good judgment and +bravery. In the period of which we write, the mode of warfare and of +military organization left much freer scope for individual gallantry and +originality of purpose, much freer play for personal prowess. Men fought +less like machines and more like heroes than it is possible for them to +do under our modern system of combinations and of implicit obedience to +orders. The hope of successful and gallant adventure spurred on the most +indifferent to do something which should lead to distinction. Emulation +is an instinctive quality in those who make a profession of arms, and +fighting is an appetite which grows by what it feeds upon. Emulation and +imitation have been called twins. + +It was after almost incredible suffering and persistency of effort that +the Order of St. John was finally settled at Rhodes upon a firmer basis +than it had ever before enjoyed, and here it remained sovereign for over +two centuries, becoming so identified with the place as to be known +throughout Christendom as the Knights of Rhodes. They had little +opportunity for the exercise of those Christian virtues which they had +heretofore claimed for their fraternity, but their character as a +warlike brotherhood did not suffer by want of aggressiveness upon their +part. + +This most beautiful island of Rhodes, which was about one third larger +than Malta, embowered with palms and citron groves, flourished +wonderfully under the sovereignty of the Knights, while the order itself +steadily increased in numbers, power, and wealth. The neighboring +islands of Telos, Syme, Nisyros, Cos, Leros, and Calymna, known on the +old charts as the Sporades, were conquered one after another and annexed +to the island of Rhodes, thus coming under the governorship of the Grand +Masters of the Knights. While establishing themselves in this island and +strengthening its half-ruined defenses, the most profitable employment +of the Knights was privateering, or, more correctly, active piracy. They +cruised against all Mohammedan and Greek vessels. True, their vows only +bound them to perpetual warfare against the Turks, but a very little +stretching of their consciences enabled them to see no wrong in +capturing the commercial property of the Greeks also. It must be +admitted that the latter people, as a maritime nation, were themselves +ever a predatory race. Might alone made right in the waters of the +Levant, and especially so in the Grecian archipelago. No candid writer +can defend the marine policy of the Greeks, and perhaps the Knights of +St. John only meted to these rovers the same treatment which they (the +Greeks) were used to accord to others. All history shows that the +eastern basin of the Mediterranean was for centuries a swarming nest of +corsairs of various nationalities, Greeks, Turks, and Algerines. Any +attempt to transfer a legitimate cargo of merchandise from an Asiatic to +a European port by way of the Straits of Gibraltar was to run the +gauntlet of a fleet of piratical vessels which preyed indiscriminately +upon the commerce of all nations. Those we have named were the most +numerous among these sea robbers, the Turks and Algerines making war +together upon the Knights of Rhodes, who retaliated upon them with +interest, both on the land and on the sea. The Knights pursued these +powers with most unchristianlike vengeance, pertinacity, and success. + +The adventurous life followed by the order proved to be terribly +demoralizing to the individual members, and especially incompatible with +the observance of their religious vows and discipline. The frequent +division of prize money, the constant capture of luxuries of all sorts, +and of female prisoners, led to gambling, drinking, and debauchery on +shore, until all semblance of respect for monastic ties utterly +vanished. This was not because the Knights were so much worse than the +average people of their time, for lawlessness was the characteristic of +the age, but it was the natural outgrowth of the extraordinary +circumstances in which they were involved,--circumstances which created +an overstrained energy neither natural nor healthful. Insubordination +and jealousies frequently broke out among the order, to quell which the +severest measures were promptly adopted. The Grand Masters more than +once resorted to the extremest punishment, even including the death +penalty. + +Following up their supremacy on the sea, the Knights continued to fight +the Turks and Greeks, wherever found, until at last scarcely a vessel +bearing the flag of either of them dared to venture out of port. Four +times the Mussulmans made prodigious efforts to dislodge the Knights +from Rhodes; but on each occasion they were signally defeated. The +warlike Turks grew more and more formidable, while they were constantly +goaded by the fresh aggressions of the Knights. + +Besides being actuated by a desire for revenge upon an enemy who had not +only so nearly ruined the commerce of Turkey, but who had raided so many +of the unprotected coast towns, carrying off the inhabitants and selling +them into slavery, Solyman, Sultan of Turkey, was burning with envy. He +coveted the island, which, under the Knights of St. John, had been made +to "blossom like the rose." So he "swore by his own head," says an +ancient writer, that he would possess Rhodes, if it cost the lives of +half his army to conquer it. Vast preparations were therefore made to +carry on, if necessary, a protracted siege. At great labor and expense +all the available forces of the Ottoman navy and army were brought +together and organized for this purpose, in the year 1522. The writers +of that period tell us that two hundred thousand men were transported to +Rhodes from Constantinople, commanded by the emperor in person. To +oppose this gigantic host the order could bring but six or seven hundred +Knights and less than six thousand men-at-arms. But every Knight was a +host in himself, while the common soldiers were well armed and +thoroughly disciplined. + +The army of the Sultan took position before the fortifications of Rhodes +with all their implements of war, in a manner which showed that they had +come to stay until victory should perch upon their banners. They stormed +the stout defenses again and again, with great loss of life on their +part. The Knights gallantly withstood all their furious and frenzied +efforts for a period of six months, often sallying forth and +slaughtering myriads of the Ottomans in hand-to-hand conflicts. The +Turks did not lack for courage. They always fought with desperation; but +in personal conflict, man to man, they were no match for the stout +cavaliers of the white cross, who, besides having the advantage of +weight and physical strength, were protected by impenetrable steel +armor, while the Orientals wore only their flowing robes and turbans of +linen. Vastly outnumbering the Knights, this very disproportion was to +their disadvantage, often causing them to be swept out of existence by +the score, from the solid phalanx which they presented to the keen +weapons of the Christians. The light arms and the agility of the +soldiers of the Sultan were of little comparative avail when met by the +heavy blows and ponderous battle-axes wielded by stout Europeans. Among +the vows of the Knights was a most significant one, namely, "never to +reckon the number of an enemy." Vast superiority of numbers, however, +told at last, for the besieged were utterly worn out. Quarter was +neither asked nor given by either side; but when the combatants met, +they fought to the last gasp. It was a war of extermination on the part +of both Christians and Turks. The latter, being really the weaker party, +went down by hundreds. + +Including the killed and severely wounded, together with those who died +of fever and various diseases incident to camp life, it is +authoritatively stated that the Turks lost one hundred and sixty +thousand men in the six months' siege of Rhodes, showing a dogged +persistency which was probably never surpassed, if it has been equaled, +in warfare. It should be remembered that the enormous host of the +Ottomans was opposed by only about five or six thousand men, who, +however, mostly fought from behind protecting stone walls. + +In order to show the spirit which actuated the Knights, and their +unscrupulous mode of warfare, we will relate a well-authenticated +instance connected with this remarkable siege. + +One of the famous fighters in the ranks of the Order of St. John was a +Frenchman who bore the name of Fornonius, who is declared to have killed +over six hundred of the enemy during the six months' contest! His +prowess was not only marvelous in the open field and upon the ramparts +when engaged in repelling an assault, but he would lie in wait, like a +hunter of wild beasts, for hours together, to obtain the chance of +killing a Mussulman. When a sortie was made against the besiegers, +Fornonius was always found in the van, rushing among the enemy, and with +one terrible sweeping reach of his keen-edged battle-axe, he would sever +three or four heads from their bodies, keeping up a shower of these +frightful blows, aimed right and left, until the astonished Ottomans, +notwithstanding their usually reckless bravery, fled in utter dismay +before what seemed to them a superhuman power. Even his comrades +believed that he bore a charmed life; for, although he received many +slight wounds, he was never touched in a vital part, and he boasted that +he had not been out of "fighting trim" during the whole of that long +siege, night or day. His example was in a degree contagious, and the +Knights, thoroughly trained to the use of arms, vied with each other in +their murderous efforts against the common enemy. + +This gallant, though in one sense useless defense of the island was +sustained so long and so successfully against such desperate odds, as to +establish the fame of the Knights for persistent bravery, commanding +even the respect and admiration of their enemies. The Turks had resolved +upon the conquest of the place, let it cost what blood it might, and +were constantly reinforced by fresh troops from Constantinople. Although +the Knights were finally obliged to yield, they were enabled to retire +from Rhodes upon advantageous terms, or to use the military phrase, upon +"honorable" terms. It was on this historic occasion that Charles V. +exclaimed in admiration: "There has been nothing so well lost in the +world as Rhodes." + +The Sultan of Turkey, to the great surprise of all the world, which had +been looking on with deepest interest at this sanguinary struggle upon +the most beautiful island of the Levant, proved himself to be, as an +enemy, brave and persistent; as a conqueror, mild and merciful. The +Knights, during the long period in which they had possessed Rhodes, had +not failed to attack every galley bearing the Ottoman flag which they +sighted, nor hesitated to destroy every coast town belonging to that +power which they could reach, or to burn any Mohammedan mosque when they +got near enough to apply the torch. Added to all this, they had +constantly captured and carried into slavery Turkish men, women, and +children by the hundreds. The Sultan, under such aggravating +circumstances, would have been fully justified, according to the code of +warfare practiced in those days, in putting every belligerent whom he +found in Rhodes to the sword. To conquer the island had cost him a vast +amount of treasure, together with a hundred and sixty thousand of his +best soldiers,--a terrible price to pay for victory. Notwithstanding +this long list of bitter aggressions, according to our idea, Sultan +Solyman showed himself to be far more humane and generous than did the +professed Christians of the Order of St. John. + +The liberal and remarkable terms granted by the conquerors of Rhodes +were in brief as follows:-- + +The Knights agreed to promptly and peaceably evacuate the island and its +dependencies within twelve days, being permitted to take with them their +arms and personal effects, even including such church ornaments and +treasures as they chose to move. Those of the citizens of Rhodes who +desired to do so could depart in the same manner, while the Christians +who remained were to be unmolested, and permitted to worship in their +usual manner. The Sultan was to provide ships, and to provision them, +with which to transport to Crete all who desired to go thither. These +liberal, not to say generous terms were faithfully adhered to, except in +one instance,--all the Christian churches in Rhodes were promptly turned +into Mohammedan mosques. + +It is said that less than a hundred of the Knights of the order remained +alive to avail themselves of the Sultan's clemency! What a comment upon +the gallant and protracted fight which they had made! Of course there +were numerous men-at-arms attached to the brotherhood, who also followed +its fortunes into exile, saying nothing of the non-combatants who +accompanied them. + +The fall of Rhodes left Sultan Solyman for the time being sole master of +the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. There were now none to dispute +his power in the AEgean, Ionian, or Adriatic seas. The Greeks were of +small account, while the Algerines were in fact his allies. The Turks, +who were by no means originally a maritime people, had gradually, by +force of circumstances, become so, and at this time they were as daring +pirates as the dreaded Algerines of the African coast. + +From this period the Order of St. John was homeless, and continued so +for six or seven years, maintaining temporary headquarters at Candia, +Messina, Cumae, and Viterbo. Its officers, dispersed among the several +courts of Europe, strove ceaselessly for recognition and reorganization. +The long siege through which they had so lately passed had quite +exhausted their immediate resources, and reduced their number to a mere +nucleus. It had been, as we have shown, a fearful and most destructive +warfare. The aged Grand Master, L'Isle Adam, repaired to Rome, where he +did not cease his endeavors to influence the Pope in behalf of the +order; that functionary either did not desire, or does not seem to have +been able to do anything in its behalf. Finally, the island of Malta, +having fallen into the possession of Charles V. of Germany, was +presented by him in perpetuity to the homeless Knights of St. John. To +an order which had no local habitation, and which was just then so +universally ignored by the reigning monarchs, and even by the Pope, this +was seemingly a great boon, a noble gift; but the real facts of the case +rob the act of any spirit of true generosity. The royal owner cared very +little for the possession of Malta, Gozo, and Tripoli, the latter +situated on the adjacent coast of Barbary. He was in reality glad to get +rid of dependencies which cost him a large sum of money annually to +garrison and maintain, but from which he received no equivalent +whatever. They were empty possessions to him, ministering neither to his +pride nor his treasury. The emperor, nevertheless, made a virtue of +their relinquishment, and bound the order, as a condition of the gift, +never under any circumstances to take up arms against his lineage. These +terms were acceded to, and were ever after scrupulously observed, though +on more than one occasion the loyalty of the Knights was sorely tried. + +As to Tripoli, the order did not desire to possess it at all, and would +have been glad not to have taken charge of it. Tripoli was indeed a +white elephant, to speak figuratively, but the emperor was +persistent,--the three dependencies must go together. His pride would +not permit him to abandon the place to the Turks, so he insisted on its +going with Malta and Gozo into the custody of the Order of St. John. He +knew very well that the Knights were in no condition to dictate terms, +and he took advantage accordingly. So the fraternity in their then +weakened condition were forced to take charge of a distant dependency, +the maintenance of which must draw heavily upon their circumscribed +resources. + +The order is said to have been upon the point of making a permanent +settlement at Genoa, where it had long before established one of its +most successful commanderies, but the decision was finally made in favor +of Malta. The Grand Master was influenced by the strategic situation, +and also on account of the advantages it presented for being most +effectually fortified. Against these considerations, however, he was +obliged to weigh the sterile character of the rocky group, which at that +time presented a most inhospitable aspect. The latter cause so affected +a large portion of the Knights, who looked more to the present than the +future, that a strong party was raised in open opposition to the choice +of this group for their future home, but the decision of the Grand +Master was final; there was no appeal from his mandate when it had been +issued. L'Isle Adam's decision proved ultimately to be the grandest move +ever made by the order, viewed from the results which were thus brought +about. + +As regarded Tripoli, its situation was more than precarious from the +very first, having often to be defended against savage onslaughts made +by the warlike Algerines. It was an outpost which only a rich and +numerous people could afford to hold, and to the Knights of St. John it +was worse than worthless. When the loss of the place occurred, +therefore, some twenty years subsequent, in 1551, at which time it was +surrendered after much hard fighting, to Dragut, the most daring and +successful corsair of the century, it was a positive advantage to the +Knights. Thereafter they were enabled to concentrate all their energies +and means upon what was of infinitely more importance, namely, the +fortification and strengthening of their principal holdings, the islands +of Malta and Gozo. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + Settlement of the Order at Malta.--A Barren Waste.--A New + Era for the Natives.--Foundling Hospitals.--Grand Master La + Vallette.--Sailors and Soldiers.--Capture of Prisoners at + Mondon.--A Slave Story in Brief.--Christian Corsairs!--The + Ottomans attack the Knights in their New Home.--Defeat of + the Turks.--Terrible Slaughter of Human Beings.--Civil + War.--Summary Punishment.--Some Details of a Famous Siege. + + +When the Knights of St. John accepted the gift of Charles V., and +removed to their new island home in October, 1530, they came in small +numbers. Their fleet consisted only of three galleys, one galliot, and a +brigantine. Malta was then comparatively a barren waste; nothing could +appear less inviting. With the picture of verdant, sunny Rhodes still +fresh in their minds, these bare rocks must have seemed terribly +inhospitable and dreary to the new-comers. The very title of Rhodes is +of Greek origin, having its appropriate appellation, and refers to the +great number of wild roses which grow spontaneously upon that lovely +island. The Knights had lived long and prosperously upon what was and is +still known as the "Garden of the Levant," hence the contrast was +naturally disheartening. Here the rocky surface was treeless and white +with desolation. In Rhodes they had left whole forests of sycamores, +planes, and palms, together with groves of olive, almond, and orange +trees, while in Malta arboreal ornamentation was literally conspicuous +by its absence. + +The thirty-fourth parallel of north latitude intersects both of these +famous islands, which are, however, separated by six degrees of +longitude, the climate being nearly identical. Rhodes was larger than +their new island home, its earlier history showing it to have been, like +Malta, at one time in the far past, a prosperous Phoenician colony. +There was no alternative for the Knights except to make the best of the +situation, and so without wasting time in useless regrets, or repining, +they set to work energetically to introduce improvements, and to adapt +the locality to their most urgent necessities. The present site of +Valletta was then sparsely occupied by a few poorly constructed cabins, +Citta Vecchia, situated two leagues inland, being the capital of the +island. The Knights first selected their headquarters at Borgo, on the +shore of the present Grand Harbor. After the decisive victory over the +Turks in 1565, Borgo was named Citta Vittoriosa, that is, the +"victorious city," in honor of the gallant defense it made on that +memorable occasion, and thus it is known to-day. + +As to the Maltese peasantry, who were thus summarily transferred from +one mastership to another without being permitted any voice whatever in +the matter, they naturally received the new-comers at first with +considerable reservation, but were soon on friendly terms with them, and +erelong they cordially joined interests. At the first coming of the +Knights, it is true, the Maltese were not in a condition to dispute the +new authority placed over them, yet they had influence enough to exact +from the brotherhood certain satisfactory terms as the price of their +yielding ready submission. The Grand Master, in behalf of the order, +solemnly swore to "preserve inviolate, for the inhabitants of the group, +all of their present rights, customs, and privileges." Realizing the +importance of retaining the good-will of the people, the fraternity as a +body were careful to exercise towards them, in these early days of their +settlement here, great consideration and generosity. They did not bear +themselves as conquerors, but rather as friends, a community having a +common interest, and they demanded no service from the Maltese for which +they did not honestly pay. They encouraged them to till the ground by +introducing new seeds, and by giving the natives valuable and practical +information. They brought fruit and ornamental trees from the mainland, +and in many ways stimulated the islanders to adopt progressive and +profitable ideas for their own special benefit. The Maltese were a +coarse, uncultured race, scarcely amenable to argument, and difficult to +reason with. They followed in the footsteps of their forefathers, and +ignored all experiments, however promising. But tangible results were +convincing, and so steady improvement followed the efforts of the +Knights to enlighten the dull native brain. + +It was the beginning of a new era for this isolated people. The spirit +of neglect which had so long reigned supreme upon the group was now +superseded by another instinct with life and enterprise. Though the +natives had not sufficient intelligence to originate ideas, yet when +placed before their eyes they could appreciate and adopt them. The mass +of the people seemed neither to know nor to care about the government +under which they lived, provided they did not experience any personal +harm or undue restrictions at the hands of those in power. They appeared +to be content so long as they were permitted to join in the almost daily +church processions and festivals, always remembering and demanding the +utmost freedom at recurrence of the annual Carnival. They entertained no +spirit of loyalty except towards themselves and their hereditary forms +and ceremonies. This was nearly four hundred years ago, but almost +precisely the same spirit prevails among the Maltese to-day. + +At the time when the Knights first came hither, Malta was hardly +fortified at all. True, Fort St. Angelo existed in name, and it mounted +a few small guns, but a score of Algerine pirates could have landed and +taken possession, so far as any protection was afforded by this apology +for a fort. + +The thin layer of soil which covered the rocks of the island here and +there was hardly sufficient to till, and no extensive effort at +agriculture or gardening seems to have been made by the natives before +the Knights came to Malta, or at least not for centuries. In any other +hands save those of this thrifty and determined semi-military +organization, the island would have been but a sorry gift. It is +described by a popular writer of that period as being "nothing better +than a shelterless rock of soft sandstone called tufa." Subsistence for +the dwellers upon the group, with the exception of fish, which were +plenty enough, was brought almost entirely from Sicily, or the mainland. +Frequent invasions of Saracens and Turks, continued for so many years, +had devastated the islands, discouraging and impoverishing the natives, +large numbers of whom had been carried away by the invaders and sold +into slavery. This was the usual mode of disposing of prisoners of war +in those days among people of the East. According to the authority from +which we have just quoted, Malta was in 1530 "intensely dry and hot, +with not a forest tree, and hardly a green thing to rest the eye upon." +This barren waste, however, was destined in the course of a few years to +put on a very different aspect, and to become an attractive example of +fertility and fruitfulness; in fact, a depot of vast importance, by the +exercise of energy and engineering skill. + +The material improvements thus introduced, together with the protection +from foreign enemies which the Maltese gained, was to be considered with +many qualifications. Magdalen asylums and foundling hospitals, to which +priests and Knights could recommend their favorites for shelter, became +most suspiciously numerous. The inference is only too plain. The native +population, as usual, emulated not the virtues, but the vices of the +new-comers. That the group must have flourished greatly under the +Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans, there are plenty of +monuments still extant to prove; but under the Arabs and Sicilians it +had gradually declined, until the period when it came into possession of +the Knights of St. John, who began promptly to restore its fallen +fortunes, though, as has been intimated, at the expense of the morals of +the people. + +The galleys of the order did not lie idle after the fraternity had +become fairly settled at Malta. They were promptly put in fighting +condition, and constantly swept the neighboring seas, capturing prizes +in all directions, even seeking the Turkish craft at the very mouth of +the Dardanelles, and the Algerines on their own coast. The Knights +filled the fighting ranks of the crews in their ships with Maltese, who +were admirable sailors, and reliable for all sorts of sea-service. A +score of Knights were quite sufficient to man each galleon, aided by a +hundred or thereabouts of the trained seamen of the island. The slaves +at the oars were not depended upon to act as belligerents, nor were the +few hands who managed the sails and the running gear of the vessels. The +Maltese had long before signalized themselves for valor and skillful +seamanship under their own commanders, by capturing the entire Venetian +fleet, together with Andrea Dandolo, the admiral who commanded it. At +another time they destroyed the large flotilla of the Republic of Pisa, +and thus raised the siege and blockade of Syracuse. Though the +protection afforded the inhabitants of the group by the Order of St. +John was ample, and freed the people from all fear of predatory +invasions, still the influence of the Knights was less for peace than +for war, and, as has been shown, was not calculated to permanently +improve the material condition of the common people of Malta. + +The renowned Dragut, daring and reckless pirate as he was, shunned a +meeting with the red galleys of the Knights. "Fate is with them," said +this dreaded corsair, referring to the armor-clad Knights, whom he had +so often met in battle. "Our swords will not wound, nor our spears +pierce them." + +La Vallette, who was at this time "General" of the galleys, proved +himself as successful at sea as he did afterwards upon the land, when, +as Grand Master, he conducted the famous and successful defense of +Malta. His career was a remarkable one. He became a Knight before he was +of age, and was conscientiously devoted to the order, body and soul, to +the very last of his life. A predatory warfare both on land and sea was +carried on incessantly by the Knights against the Turks, in which they +were almost always successful. The historians tell us that during the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Valletta became a vast slave mart, +supplied with human merchandise by means of the invasions and +sea-captures of the order. On one occasion a thoroughly organized and +well-equipped force engaged in an expedition by which the Knights +surprised and captured the city of Mondon, in Morea, whence they brought +away a large amount of riches. We find enumerated in the list of their +booty, eight hundred Turkish women and girls, whom they enslaved! The +reader will please remember that we are writing of a fraternity,--a +so-called religious brotherhood,--whose solemn vows bound them to +charity, poverty, humility, and chastity. One feels not a little +inclined to moralize, in this connection, upon the contrast between +profession and practice, and on the weakness of human nature in general. +These Knights of the cross reveled in cruel warfare; it was recreation +to them. They displayed no want of valor, but they did exhibit "a +plentiful lack" of Christian charity. + +Among the beautiful women who fell into the hands of the Knights at the +capture of Mondon was one possessed of marvelous loveliness both of form +and features. Soon after her capture she became the property of Viscomte +Cicala, who finally made her his wife. Being his slave, there could be +no choice on her part, whether she would consent to the arrangement or +not. The fruit of this marriage was a son, whom the father named Scipio, +and had baptized into the Roman Catholic faith. This boy, when he grew +up to man's estate, as the story runs, to fulfill a solemn vow made to +his mother hastened to Constantinople, where he enlisted in the Ottoman +army, and promptly embraced Mohammedanism. By his extraordinary valor +and intelligence as an officer in the Sultan's service, he rose rapidly +to the command of the Turkish army. In this position he proved himself +one of the most able and active enemies the Christians had to contend +with. He caused great destruction in their ranks, because of the +knowledge he possessed of their modes of warfare. When he was engaged in +battle with the Christians, his war-cry was, "Remember Mondon!" + +In the lapse of years, aggravated by the numberless onslaughts of the +Knights upon their commerce, also envying the great improvement and +manifest prosperity evinced at Malta under the management of L'Isle Adam +and his successor, La Vallette, Turkish jealousy was aroused to the +highest point of endurance. The commerce of Egypt and Syria was in +danger of annihilation. The Knights of St. John were virtual masters of +the narrow seas,--they were the "Christian" corsairs of the Levant! In +the forty-three years which had transpired since the Knights were driven +from Rhodes, the Turks had many times seen cause to regret the clemency +which had been exercised toward the Christians in allowing them to +depart from the island in peace. The Sultan's royal liberality, it must +be confessed, had been ill-rewarded. The Order of St. John had proved to +be more of a thorn in the side of the Ottoman power than when its +stronghold was on the nearer island. It is not surprising, therefore, +that the Sultan resolved again to attack the Knights in their more +recent home, and thereby not only to avenge the great losses which his +people had sustained on sea and land, but also so effectually to +demolish the power of the Knights as to disperse and break up the order +altogether. Twice the Sultan brought large, well-organized forces to +Malta for this purpose, first in 1546 and again in 1551, on both of +which occasions the Ottomans were ignominiously defeated, and as usual +with great slaughter. Their admitted losses aggregated from ten to +twelve thousand men, killed outright, on each of these occasions. Their +perseverance under such discouraging circumstances was marvelous, yet +only characteristic of the race. The Turks always fought bravely, hand +to hand, spurred on by a religious frenzy which led them to disregard +all personal danger. They had no fear of death, which to the faithful +Mussulman only signified instant transportation to the Mohammedan +paradise, with them "a consummation devoutly to be wished." + +The Ottomans stormed the fortifications of the Knights at great +disadvantage. Inspired by their fanaticism, they advanced over the dead +bodies of their comrades, which formed a bridge across the deep ditch, +while the defenders were sustained by a lofty and heroic resolve to +conquer or to die. The meeting of such opponents caused blood to flow +like water, while the sacrifice of human life must have been enormous. +It was the calm, unshrinking determination of the soldiers of the cross +that rendered them so invincible, both on sea and on land, and that +insured them victory, though they were always outnumbered in every +conflict. A few score of men inspired by such a strong will as actuated +the Knights of St. John, and so well versed in the use of deadly +weapons, became a host in themselves. It was in the siege of 1551 that +the order lost one of the most active and important of its members in +the person of the Cavalier Repton, Grand Prior of England, whose prowess +as a soldier of the cross was long remembered by his brethren in arms. + +This frenzy, leading to the sacrifice of one's life in the hope of +gaining Paradise, as exhibited by the Turks, seems ridiculous, no doubt, +to the average reader, but it exists to-day in various forms among +Eastern nations. The devout Hindoo solemnly believes that the shortest +road to eternal life is to be submerged in the all-cleansing, sacred +Ganges. His body is in the ordinary course burned upon its banks, while +the ashes are carefully gathered and cast into the flowing tide. So +infatuated were the pilgrims at one time, who came to Benares to bathe +in the sacred river, that the English police were obliged to use force +to prevent them from drowning themselves and their infants in these +waters. It was so with the Turks, who believed themselves to be serving +Allah and dying in his service, when they fought the Christian soldiers. +"These infidels seem to welcome death," said Grand Master La Vallette, +while at his advanced age he was wielding the deadly battle-axe upon the +ramparts during the siege of Malta. + +In the two attempts upon the island in 1546 and in 1551, the Mohammedans +outnumbered the Maltese garrison ten to one. Having so often tested the +prowess of the Christians in battle, the Turks would not attack the +Knights except with a force much superior in numbers. In their most +prosperous days in Malta, the Knights proper, that is, those holding +full membership in the order, never numbered more than six or seven +hundred, but there were various grades of men-at-arms, and of trained +native Maltese, attached to the service of the Knights, thus swelling +the fighting force to a fairly effective body. Many of the Knights were +distributed over Europe, the order having "chapters," or "commanderies," +as they were called, in France, Germany, England, Spain, and Italy, from +which the headquarters at Malta drew pecuniary support to meet all +ordinary demands upon it. But the treasury of the order was amply +supplied in reality by preying upon the commerce of the Mediterranean +between Sicily and the Levant. Occasionally, when seriously weakened by +warfare, fresh members from these European depots joined the main body +on the island for more active duty. A requisition to that effect being +issued by the Grand Master, it was responded to with alacrity by the +home members. It was a period when chivalry flourished in Europe, as we +have already indicated, when warfare against the Mohammedans was deemed +among the Christians an absolute service to God. + +There was undoubtedly an _esprit de corps_ among the Knights of St. +John, which was strong enough to hold them in the ordinary bonds of +brotherhood, and to keep up the forms of their religious vows and +purposes. Yet those who knew their history at this period do not credit +them with much consistency or pious devotion to the sacred obligations +which they had voluntarily assumed. They were often anything but +harmonious among themselves, requiring the intervention of stern rules +exercised by an unquestionable authority. + +While L'Isle Adam was alive, bending under the accumulated weight of +many years, and still suffering much pain from the wounds he had +received in various battles with the Turks, he was nearly disheartened +and broken down with sorrow at the growth of domestic quarrels and +jealousies among the fraternity over which he presided. In vain were all +his earnest admonitions and pacific attempts at reconciliation. The time +had come for exemplary action. He was severely just in administering the +duties of his responsible office, and was both respected and feared by +all backsliders. One cause, and perhaps the principal one, which induced +quarrels among the Knights was that of the difference of language. There +was a certain national rivalry which was ever coming to the surface, and +which proved a chronic source of trouble. This spirit finally broke +forth in open warfare, civil war, and was conducted with deadly +hostility between the several factions. Duels and personal conflicts +were of daily occurrence. It was a crisis in the history of the order, +but L'Isle Adam, notwithstanding his physical infirmities, was fully +equal to the trying occasion. He had faced the furious enemy in too many +a hard fought battle to know anything like hesitancy at a critical +moment. A brief court-martial was promptly held; the trial of the +accused Knights was short and decisive. The reckless and guilty culprits +found that they had been playing with fire. Twelve of the accused were +ordered to be stripped of their official garments and insignia, and were +ignominiously expelled from the order and the island, while an equal +number were condemned to immediate death. These last were inclosed in +canvas bags, after they had been securely bound with ropes, and, similar +to the Turkish fashion of treating unfaithful women, they were thrown +into the sea to drown! It was the iron hand of discipline, Oriental and +heathenish in the character of the punishment, but it was effective in +its results. Any halting in purpose on the part of L'Isle Adam at that +critical moment would have proved to be the death of the order. We may +be sure that there were no more attempts at civil war among the Knights. +Order was firmly reestablished. The vows of the members bound them to +the most implicit obedience. They were rebellious; they disregarded the +Grand Master's commands, and consequently they suffered condign +punishment. + +A terrible example having thus been made, the members realized +thereafter both the certainty and the severity of the punishment which +awaited those who indulged a like rebellious spirit. Four years after +the settlement of the order in the island of Malta, L'Isle Adam died. +This was in 1534. + +It was in 1565 that the Porte made its greatest and final effort to +capture Malta from the Knights of St. John. The Sultan determined to +crush out the life of a fraternity which for centuries had been so +persistently arrayed against his race. The immediate circumstance which +at last awakened the fury of Solyman, and brought matters to a climax, +was the capture by the Knights of a Turkish galleon, on the Ottoman +coast, richly laden, and belonging to the chief black eunuch of his +royal establishment. Enraged at this, the Sultan vowed to bring about +the destruction of his old enemies, if it cost the lives of half his +subjects. In pursuance of this resolve, after a full year occupied in +elaborate preparations, one hundred and thirty vessels, carrying about +forty thousand men, sailed from Constantinople, under command of Mustafa +Pasha, who had grown old in the wars of his country, and having been +joined by an Algerine flotilla manned by piratical crews, and led by the +notorious corsair Dragut, appeared in due form, May 18, 1565, upon the +Maltese coast. The force thus organized on the part of the Turks was one +of the most complete, in its warlike character, which had ever floated +in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea. Its success seemed to be +a foregone conclusion with all except the gallant Knights themselves. + +In the mean time, while this grand expedition was being organized, La +Vallette, then Grand Master of the Knights, was kept well informed of +every movement at Constantinople, and he was by no means idle. Every +exertion was made to place the island in a good condition of defense. A +general summons was issued, recalling all Knights who were absent in +Europe. A large body of infantry was raised in Sicily, two thousand men +and more, who were gradually transferred to the island. Ample quantities +of provisions, arms, and ammunition were accumulated. The native militia +enthusiastically joined the service of the Knights, and were carefully +trained to the handling of weapons preparatory to the arrival of the +enemy. Thus, when the Turks made their appearance, the Grand Master had +at his command a force of about nine thousand men, well prepared to meet +them. Nearly six hundred of this number were Knights proper, full +members of the Order of St. John. These latter had been trained from +boyhood to the use of warlike weapons, and each man was equal to a score +of ordinary soldiers, as organized in those days. Still, it must have +been an anxious occasion among the Christians and their allies, the +Maltese, especially so to those who remembered the siege of Rhodes. The +Ottomans were much more formidable now than they were then. They +conquered in 1522. Who could say what would be the result in 1565? The +Mohammedans, as usual, vastly outnumbered their opponents; indeed, it is +reported that Solyman declared: "I will send soldiers enough to walk +over the bodies of these proud Knights without unsheathing their swords +to fight." The Sultan was so confident of victory that all his +arrangements were made for the future occupancy and governorship of the +Maltese group. + +The Grand Master assembled the Knights to an extraordinary meeting. He +bade them reconcile themselves with God and with each other, and then +prepare to lay down their lives, if necessary, in defense of the faith +which they had sworn to shield. All schisms were forgotten, as might +naturally be expected. The order, in face of an enemy, was as one +individual. After renewing their vows in the most solemn manner, they +joined hands and hearts in the great purpose of defense, resolving to +inflict dire destruction upon the common enemy. There was no more +jealousy or rivalry between individuals of the order, except as to which +should exhibit the greatest and most effective bravery upon the +ramparts, or on the occasion of a sortie. This spirit of chivalrous +emulation among the Knights cost the enemy daily many scores of lives. + +Thus began one of the most sanguinary sieges ever recorded in history. +It lasted for nearly four months, and was characterized by unrelenting +desperation on both sides, reviving again the bloody scenes which were +enacted at Jerusalem, Acre, and Rhodes. The thirty-five years which had +transpired since the Knights took possession of Malta had been largely +devoted to strengthening their means of defense, and in supplying their +armory with the most effective death-dealing weapons. The present site +of Valletta, it should be remembered, was then simply the bare +promontory of Mount Sceberris. + +The Grand Master knew every movement of the enemy, through the capable +spies whom he maintained at Constantinople, and was promptly informed by +them of the sailing of the expedition. The Christian forces, therefore, +were in no wise taken by surprise, while the Turks were amazed at the +ample preparation evinced in the manner their first onslaught was +received, and the terrible slaughter of their forces, while the cheering +battle-cry of the Knights of St. John rang ominously in their ears. They +could not have hoped to take the Christians wholly unawares, but they +had no idea that the Knights were so thoroughly prepared to receive them +with stout arms, keen-edged weapons, and an abundance of death-dealing +missiles. The invaders had brought siege artillery with them, and after +the first assault, from which they had hoped to achieve so much, but in +which they were tellingly repulsed, leaving hundreds of their best +soldiers dead in the trenches and upon the open field, they resorted to +their reserved means of offense. Some of their cannon were of such +enormous calibre as to throw stones weighing three hundred pounds. Yet +so clumsy was this primitive artillery, and so awkwardly was it served, +that it often inflicted more destruction on the Turkish gunners +themselves than on the Christians. + +The struggle raged fiercely day by day, and the victims were reckoned by +hundreds among the enemy every twenty-four hours. The carnage among the +besiegers was awful. Their close ranks were mowed down by the Knights, +as grass falls before the scythe of the husbandman. + +When the Ottoman soldiers came in a body, bearing scaling-ladders +wherewith to reach the top of the rampart of St. Elmo, and while they +were in the most exposed situation, sharp-cornered stones, as heavy as +two men could lift, were launched suddenly upon those ascending the +ladders, forcing them to the ground, and killing them in large numbers. +Boiling pitch was poured upon the upturned faces of the assailants, +blinding and agonizing them. Iron hoops bound with cotton thoroughly +saturated with gum and gunpowder were set on fire, and so thrown as to +encircle the heads of three or four of the enemy, binding them together +in a fiery circle which they could not extinguish, and which burned them +fatally before they reached the ground below. Many other horribly +destructive and fatal devices were adopted by the defenders, which +spread death in all directions among the Turks. When one of the enemy +succeeded in reaching the top of the ramparts, he was instantly met by a +Knight, whose keen battle-axe severed his head from the body, both head +and body tumbling back into the ditch among the assailants. Still, the +indomitable Ottomans renewed their attacks from day to day, hoping to +carry the fort at last by exhausting the physical endurance of the +defenders, though it should cost ten Mussulmans' lives for one +Christian. Each time they marched to the assault, the death-dealing +rocks, the boiling pitch, and the fiery hoops did their terrible work, +in connection with the ordinary weapons of war, in the use of which the +Knights were so expert. It is said that in the hands of a powerful man +familiar with it, no weapon is so destructive at close quarters as the +broad-bladed, keen-edged battle-axe of those days. The Orientals +depended almost solely upon their crude firearms,--the +blunderbuss,--together with their light swords and spears. + +Early in the siege of which we are speaking, the commander of the +Mohammedan army resorted energetically to mining, in furtherance of +their attack upon Fort St. Elmo, but the Knights were no novices at +counter mining. On one occasion the Turkish engineers had sprung a +device of this sort so near to the defensive bastions as to make a wide +breach in the stout walls. This was not unexpected by the Knights, who +had, in fact, been on the watch for just such an opportunity. Hardly had +the shower of the debris ceased to fall, before the enemy rushed forward +to enter the fort by the newly made breach. The turbaned throng, a +thousand men and more, with waving banners and upraised swords, crowded +together upon the spot, little heeding what was to follow. And yet there +was a moment's pause, a moment of utter silence, as though those +soldiers of the crescent instinctively waited for something to happen, +they knew not what. It was like the awful stillness which precedes the +hurricane at sea. The moment this pause occurred, the Knights sprung a +well-prepared mine beneath the very feet of the densely crowded body of +the enemy, blowing nearly two thirds of their immediate assailants to +instant death! Seven hundred Turks are said to have lost their lives at +that terribly fatal explosion, as though struck by lightning. The whole +Ottoman force rapidly withdrew in utter confusion and amazement. + +The moral effect of this frightful catastrophe to their army led to +quiet in the Turkish camp for several days, though it did not fail to +create among the invaders a spirit of revenge which amounted almost to +madness. + +Jean de La Vallette, Grand Master of the order, was well fitted for his +position in this great emergency. He was seen everywhere, even in the +thickest of the fight, praising the valor of the Knights and leading the +most hardy. Though he was gray with age, being threescore years and ten, +still his practiced arm was stout and able to wield the terrible +battle-axe with dire effect. He had always been famous for his +expertness with this weapon. He was the _beau ideal_ of the +soldier-monk, and the true embodiment of a spirit of chivalry which was +fast passing away. At this special time his experience was of the +greatest advantage, and his judgment was always sound. Having once been +a captive among the Turks for a considerable period, he knew their mode +of warfare, and spoke their language. Though stern and inflexible in +character, and often charged with cruelty, he is represented to have +been always just, and devoutly religious. To his skill, courage, and +iron will, together with a spirit of tireless energy, more than aught +else, the Ottomans owed their final defeat. His very name has become a +synonym with the Maltese for genius, piety, and courage. + +It is true that on the closing days of the siege, the Knights of St. +John were joined by long-delayed reinforcements sent from Italy, but so +far as we can discover, these fresh troops were not called upon to go +into action with the enemy. The siege was virtually already at an end +when they arrived upon the scene. The Turkish army had suffered beyond +all precedent. Three quarters of their number had laid down their lives +in this sanguinary and useless siege. The fort of St. Elmo had finally +been captured by the enemy, but forts St. Angelo and St. Michael still +remained intact. These forts were also stormed again and again, but the +now weary and disheartened Ottomans were repulsed each time with awful +slaughter. At last, when it became known that reinforcements sent to the +Knights had actually landed upon another part of the island, Mustafa +Pasha was compelled to order the galleys to prepare to sail for +Constantinople with the small and shattered remnant of his army. Further +prosecution of the siege was out of the question, and those of the +Turkish army still left alive, struck by a panic, threw away their +arms, and fled toward the galleys. + +In this hasty and demoralized retreat of the enemy, the Knights saw +their chance for an effective dash; so getting a few score of cavalry +together, until now inoperative, they fell upon the rear of the fleeing +Turks and slaughtered them in large numbers, while many were driven +pellmell into the sea, where they were quickly drowned. + +While the siege was in active progress, all Europe was anxiously +watching the struggle, and when it closed with such decided results, and +with the utter discomfiture of the Ottoman power, Europe rejoiced. In +Rome (as well as in many other capitals), the ancient city was +illumined, and salutes were fired from the fortress of St. Angelo, on +the banks of the Tiber, while a thanksgiving mass was celebrated in all +the churches. Pope Pius IV., as a special mark of his favor, offered La +Vallette a cardinal's hat; but the hero of Malta considered his position +far more elevated than that of a cardinal, and graciously declined the +honor. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + Result of the Siege.--Native Women serving as Soldiers.--The + Maltese Militia.--The Knights gain World-Wide Applause.-- + Rage of Sultan Solyman.--Agents of the Grand Master become + Incendiaries.--La Vallette, Hero of the Siege.--The Order + still Piratical.--The Turks and Knights Affiliate.--Decadence + of the Chivalric Brotherhood.--Momentary Revival of the Old + Spirit.--Treacherous Surrender.--French Sovereignty.--End of + the Order. + + +Many interesting considerations suggest themselves in connection with +this remarkable siege. The lack of discipline which characterizes +Oriental soldiery was an element constantly operating against the +assailants. Had the siege opened on true engineering and military +principles, such an enormous and well-armed number of Turkish fighters +must have overwhelmed the Christians at the very outset. This, however, +was not the case. The siege seems to have been a series of blunders on +the part of the Ottomans from the beginning until the end, or at least +until the arrival of Admiral Dragut, who took partial command and gave +the operations the benefit of his great military experience. Henceforth +something like order and system were evolved from the utter confusion +which reigned supreme in the Turkish army. + +The vast number of the Ottoman forces, compared with that of the +defenders of Malta, only served to emphasize their final and utter +defeat. True, there is a great difference between contending parties +when one is fighting in the open, while the other is protected by +well-constructed walls of stone, but the Turkish commander, though +foolhardy, was not blind, and he must have taken that into consideration +when he made his opening and reckless attack upon the stronghold of Fort +St. Elmo. It is quite possible that excessive numbers may prove an +element of disaster, under certain circumstances. This was exactly the +case in the first onslaught of the Ottomans, who came to the attack +almost in a solid body,--a mere reckless, over-confident mob,--relying +upon their numbers rather than upon any appropriate tactics. In after +assaults more discipline was adopted and observed. The forces were +divided so as to attack various points simultaneously, while a heavy +reserve was held well in hand to launch upon the point where any +temporary success disclosed a weakness in the defenses. The enemy had +learned a bitter lesson by experience; that vain, ill-conceived attack +at the opening of the siege having cost them between three and four +thousand of their best soldiers. The bodies of these men who were slain +before the stout walls of St. Elmo lay unburied for days in the trenches +and approaches to the fort, creating a terrible stench, which caused a +fever to break out in the Turkish camp, nearly as fatal to them as the +missiles and battle-axes of the Knights. + +During the progress of the siege the Maltese women not only tended the +sick and wounded, but constantly served refreshments to those who could +not leave their posts of duty. They also transported the wounded upon +stretchers to the hospitals, and brought powder, shot, and rocks, to aid +the defenders upon the ramparts. Though many of them were killed and +others wounded while thus engaged, they bravely continued their +important services to the last. One historian says that twice when the +Turkish shot had cut down the red banner of St. John, with its +eight-pointed cross of white, it was a Maltese woman who instantly +rushed to the exposed point and raised it again over the ramparts, where +stout and ready hands once more secured it in position. + +It is a notable circumstance that the native population, though so +clearly Arabic in their origin, manners, and customs, have never, so far +as we know, sympathized with the Mohammedans. + +Further details of this memorable siege would but weary the reader. +Suffice it to say that the final defeat of the Turks showed them to have +lost, since they had landed in Malta, thirty thousand men killed, +besides hordes of wounded left unfit for future service. Of the Knights +and their auxiliaries, who aggregated, as will be remembered, about nine +thousand fighting men, only six hundred remained capable of bearing +arms! The Maltese militia, so say contemporary writers, proved to be +effective soldiers, numbering about three thousand men at the beginning +of the conflict, but they were nearly all destroyed during the +protracted siege. They were amphibious fighters, sometimes leaping into +the sea, holding their swords in their teeth, and successfully attacking +the Turks from this element in which they were so much at home. They +aided most materially in the general result, and indeed, but for their +gallant services, the Knights could not have held out to the close, when +the reinforcements arrived. + +This decisive victory gained over the Ottoman power was not alone of +great significance to the Order of St. John, but it was of immense +importance to all the dwellers in the Mediterranean ports west of the +Levant, relieving the several exposed nationalities from the fear of +predatory visits of Turkish or Algerine galleys. These notorious +corsairs had for centuries made the great inland sea the terror of all +honest seamen, seriously crippling its commerce. But at the siege of St. +Elmo the most daring leader of the pirates had lost his life, and his +followers were no more to be feared, at least for a considerable period. +By their brave and successful defense of Malta, the Knights permanently +fixed the boundary of the Ottoman power, so far as regarded its possible +extension westward. Up to this time, Solyman II., like his father, +called the "Magnificent," had his eyes fixed on Europe, the eventual +conquest of which they both boldly resolved upon, but the tide of +successful warfare in that direction was now stayed. Advance upon the +Christian powers was quite impossible, while there remained upon their +flank and rear so efficient and implacable an enemy as the Knights of +Malta. + +The admiration and gratitude of the Christian world at large were +manifested by liberal donations from all quarters to swell the depleted +treasury of the order, while earnest and able aspirants hastened to join +its ranks. The Knights, by their display of indomitable courage and +prowess in war, justly won the name of the heroes of Christendom. They +were men, as we have seen, of whose morality the less said the better, +but who as soldiers merited their unrivaled reputation. + +The rage of Sultan Solyman at the complete defeat of his army and the +return of his unsuccessful general was terrible. He immediately resolved +to gather another army and flotilla, with which to conquer Malta, to +lead this expedition himself, and to take with him a hundred thousand +soldiers to insure victory. Preparations were accordingly begun in the +great arsenal of Constantinople by collecting arms and ammunition for +the carrying out of this purpose, especially including the storage of +large quantities of gunpowder. When this had progressed for a few +months, La Vallette was informed of the object by his well-paid spies in +the Turkish capital. The Knights could not withstand another siege. +Their ranks had been so thinned as to leave only a skeleton +organization, and the outlook for them was indeed desperate. The Grand +Master knew that he could no longer hope to oppose force to force +successfully, and that other and effective means must be promptly +adopted to cripple and discourage the persistent enemy. La Vallette +secretly instructed his unscrupulous spies to fire the arsenal of +Constantinople, promising a grand premium if success followed the +attempt. This was done. Large stores of powder had already been gathered +here for the expedition; and its explosion destroyed not only the +arsenal itself, with its store of arms and equipments, but also wrecked +the entire fleet, which was being equipped close at hand. The instant +destruction of human life, as well as of war materials, was enormous, so +great, in fact, that the expedition was necessarily abandoned for the +time being. The death of the Sultan of Turkey soon followed the blowing +up of the arsenal, thus preventing any renewal of the design against the +order. + +The successful defense of Malta proved to be the last great feat of arms +achieved by the Knights of St. John. They had completely broken the +Ottoman power, so far as aggressive operations were concerned. There was +now no active enemy with whom they were called upon to contend. Rest and +recuperation would seem to be absolutely necessary after the terrible +strain which had been put upon their endurance; and they had most +certainly earned the right to enjoy such a respite. Of the Grand Master, +La Vallette, it is recorded that, during the heat of action, when the +Turks were storming the walls and his battle-axe was spreading death +right and left, his associate Knights besought him not to so expose his +life. It was then that he replied: "How can I, at my age of seventy-one +years, die more gloriously than in the midst of my brothers, in the +service of God, and in defense of our holy religion?" He was the +soldier-monk par excellence, possessing grand physical powers, devoutly +pious according to his creed, and a grand example of chivalry. It is not +too much to say that it was his hand that hurled back the shattered and +riven power of the Turks. Age had not withered his ambition or +enterprise. He resolved to build at once a new and thoroughly fortified +city by the shore, on the promontory of Mount Sceberris, the present +site of Valletta, and to remove the capital of the island to the coast. +The outcome of this purpose is the beautiful city which we have already +described, in the erection and fortification of which the order reached +the acme of its defensive purposes. It may be truly said that they were +at last fully prepared and able to repulse any force which could +possibly be brought against them, and the universal knowledge that this +was so prevented any further attempt at molestation. + +The galleys of the Knights of St. John still roamed the seas in search +of prizes, and woe betide any craft which they encountered sailing under +the Turkish flag. It is said that a careful discrimination was not +always exercised as to the nationality of the vessels which they +attacked. Other craft than Turkish were often seized and pilfered, under +some specious pretext, especially if they were Grecian. The galleys of +that people, it must be frankly admitted, were mostly of a piratical +character. + +The rapidity with which the Knights recovered from their late almost +hopeless condition was marvelous. A large and thoroughly fortified city +seemed to spring into existence as though by magic. To accomplish this, +vast sums of money were required, and the principal sovereigns of Europe +vied with each other in their gratitude, as to which should most +liberally contribute means for the use of the order in Malta. The +Valletta of our day, however, was not actually completed until some +twenty-five years later. + +While Emmanuel Pinto was Grand Master of the order, in 1741, the King of +Sicily attempted to establish a claim upon these islands, and sent a +select council to preside over its government. These officials, who came +hither in great state, were summarily dismissed and sent back to Sicily +by the Grand Master. The king in retaliation closed all the ports of +Sicily against Maltese vessels. This was a serious matter to the latter, +as the group depended upon that country for a large portion of its food +supply, especially in grain. To meet this exigency, the Grand Master +entered into a treaty with the old foes of the order, namely, the Turks, +who gladly accepted a proposal which afforded them a respite from +warfare with so active an enemy, and also enabled them, for the time +being, to sell supplies to the people of the Maltese group. They joined +the Knights also in an offensive marine warfare against the Sicilians, +and soon caused the king of that country to regret the step he had taken +against the Knights of St. John. After he had lost many vessels to the +Knights and Turks combined, he humbly sued for peace, and made such +ample reparation as was demanded of him for the needless war which he +had caused. + +Looking at the current of events from our own standpoint, and through +the distance of time, it would seem that the Knights must have found it +a rather uncongenial business to fight a so-called Christian power, side +by side with their life-long enemies, the infidel Turks. True, it was +but a temporary union, the object of which having been accomplished, the +old spirit of enmity between the Knights and the Ottomans was resumed, +and found expression in an immediate renewal of hostilities. + +From this period the glory of the Knights of St. John seems to have +gradually waned. Their religious zeal and simplicity of living had long +since departed. Is not all growth toward ripeness also toward decay, +unless directed heavenward? There was no longer any violent opposition +to overcome by energetic action and self-abnegation, no enemy with arms +in his hands whom they must conquer. The one power whom they had always +antagonized was comparatively exhausted and undemonstrative. True +manhood feeds upon--is supported by--antagonism, and opposition is the +spur to heroic deeds. The life of constant warfare and the savage use of +arms which the Knights had so long been accustomed to quite +over-shadowed their priestly instincts, and as peace now reigned, they +sought unholy excitement in various forms, such as were ill-suited to +the vows and professions of the order. They now dwelt in sumptuous +palaces, lapsing by degrees into utter idleness and libertinism. They +had become the richest and most powerful brotherhood in the world. It is +true that the outward forms of their religion were observed with more or +less regularity, but it was an empty, heartless ceremony. The portraits, +still extant, which were painted of them at this period, show that their +dress was changed from steel armor and shirt of mail to velvet and +gold-wrought fabric, of an effeminate character. Their chivalric +impulses had departed. They gave way to the pleasures of the table and +to the demoralizing wine-cup. Those who have written of the order +understandingly as regards this period tell us that morality was at the +lowest ebb with the individual members of the fraternity. In these +latter years, joining the organization was the means of providing for a +younger brother in titled European families. The order became the resort +for libertines who had exhausted all home relations. It was not unusual +for men, however dissolute, provided they belonged to the higher ranks, +to become Knights of St. John as a final resort, after leading a godless +and criminal career. + +An instance which occurred so late as 1783 is called to mind, when the +Knights, for a brief period, seemed to awaken to the old instincts and +professions of their order. It was tidings of the fearfully destructive +earthquake in Sicily, happening in that year, which so aroused the +fraternity. Manning their galleys, after they had filled them with +food, wine, and medicine, they sailed across the sea, and having landed +amid widespread desolation, they assumed the role of good Samaritans, +feeding the hungry, ministering to the sick, and smoothing the pillow of +the dying. Thus they once more revived the memory of those grand, +unselfish days at Jerusalem, when they were justly renowned and revered +as Hospitallers, living up to their vows of poverty, charity, and +chastity. This was, however, only the blazing up of dying embers, and +the order lapsed once more into luxury and decay. + +The final disaster which befell the Knights of St. John, as an +organization, came through the medium of treachery, and that, too, of +the grossest description, in 1798, when Von Hompesch was the Grand +Master. This faithless man, like Bazaine at Metz, proved to be an arch +traitor to every trust that had been reposed in him, and won the +contempt of all Christendom. + +Von Hompesch was a man entirely unfit for such an exigency as then +occurred. He was devoid of all firmness or decision of character, and +was, indeed, neither priest nor soldier except in name. It seems strange +that he should have been chosen to so responsible a situation by his +brotherhood, who must have known the man thoroughly. The application of +the classic saying is clear: "Whom the gods would destroy, they first +make mad." There was evidently considerable discontent under his +authority, and rebellious expressions were not wanting. At this +distance of time, and with our want of light upon the situation, no +satisfactory motive can be adduced for Von Hompesch's treachery and +general listlessness. The principal traitors who are known to have been +most active in this conspiracy, for conspiracy it was, were the Knights +of the division of Provence, Auvergne, and France, among whom liberal +pensions and rewards were freely distributed by the invaders of Malta. +It was thus that the French soldiers under Bonaparte obtained ready and +easy admittance to the almost impregnable defenses of Valletta, absolute +possession being given to them without any real or pretended fighting in +their defense. "It was well," said an officer high in command among the +invaders, "that some one was within to open the gates for us. We should +have found considerable difficulty in entering, if the place had been +entirely empty." + +French gold and cunning diplomacy, not French valor, opened the way into +the well-fortified capital. Three days after the appearance of the +French fleet off the harbor, the tricolor was floating over the historic +battlements of St. Elmo. The indignation of the native Maltese was so +great at this ignominious surrender of the island to the enemy, that the +people rose in their anger and assassinated several of the most guilty +of the obnoxious members of the Order of St. John. + +Bonaparte agreed, by solemn compact duly written and signed, on behalf +of his government, with the Grand Master, Von Hompesch, when he gave up +the possession of the island to him, that "the inhabitants shall be +allowed, as of old, the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, +their privileges and property shall remain inviolate, and they shall not +be subject to any extraordinary tax." This agreement was a mere form on +the part of the French, the pledges being all broken within one week +from the day on which they were signed. + +All Europe was amazed at this blot cast upon the escutcheon of a +chivalric brotherhood like that of the Knights, whose record for loyalty +to the order and its general purposes had been so gallantly maintained, +and at such terrible cost, for so many centuries. To one who recalls the +past history of these soldier-priests, such an ending must seem almost +incredible. It is impossible not to contrast this shameful surrender +with the valorous resistance of the Knights in the terrible siege of +1565, when their blood flowed free as water to sustain the honor of +their flag, and to preserve the integrity of their order. The dying of +the Knights who formed the forlorn hope of the fort of St. Elmo, one by +one fighting at his post until he fell, is one of the grandest and most +heroic tableaux known to the annals of history. + +The new masters of the Maltese at once banished the traitor Von Hompesch +from the island, and perhaps it was necessary in order to save his life, +which the native population did not hesitate to threaten openly. He +retired to Trieste, after receiving a princely fortune from France. This +was in 1799. His death occurred in 1805, at Montpellier, in the +sixty-second year of his age. He is dismissed from history, disgraced +and forgotten. + +The successor of this unknightly leader of the order was the Emperor +Paul I., of Russia, who was chosen as a _dernier ressort_. He was +solemnly inaugurated, but was never more than nominally Grand Master. +His election to the office was so manifestly an incongruous act, that it +remained unrecognized. When the French established themselves in Malta, +a number of the Knights took refuge in St. Petersburg, and there elected +the emperor to the post even before Von Hompesch had formally resigned +the office. Paul made several vain attempts to reestablish the Knights, +inviting the nobility of Christendom to enlist in the ranks of the +ancient order. Success did not follow his efforts to this end. + +The Knights were seen no more in Malta, though up to the arrival of the +French they had been sovereign in the islands for two hundred and +sixty-eight years. Twenty-eight successive Grand Masters had presided +over them here, from L'Isle Adam to Von Hompesch. + +The new masters of Malta made themselves odious to the people of the +island by their reckless pillage and rapine, so that the French name has +ever been held in abhorrence by them. The soldiery invaded the sanctuary +of domestic life, and the honor of maid or mother was recklessly +sacrificed by brute force to their vile appetite. We have referred in +these pages to the faldetta, which is worn by the women of Malta. There +is a legend relating to this article of dress which occurs to us in this +connection. It is to the effect that after Valletta was seized by the +French troops, the women registered a solemn vow that, in memory of the +brutal treatment they had received at the hands of the licentious +soldiery, they and their descendants should for the period of one +hundred years dress in black, whenever they appeared upon the streets, +and that all should wear a distinctive hood, which is called the "hood +of shame." + +The local customs of the Maltese were outraged, and the legal code +interfered with, by the French. Among other acts they abolished all +titles, altered the laws affecting the tenure of property, and demanded +that the sons of rich families should be sent to France for educational +purposes. They seemed to try to aggravate the Maltese by petty and +needless oppression, until at last, goaded beyond further endurance, +especially in matters relating to church affairs, the islanders rose in +insurrection, and were joined in their struggle by the English. The +fleet of the latter had just arrived at Malta, fresh from the victory of +Aboukir, and it heartily seconded the uprising of the Maltese against +their oppressors. Without this timely aid they could have made but a +feeble struggle for their freedom. The anger of the native population +came to a climax when the French soldiery attempted to rifle the old +cathedral at Citta Vecchia, which was held by them in such special +reverence. That ancient temple was to the masses of the islanders what +the more modern church of St. John had been to the Knights. + +The French invaders were promptly driven within the walls of the +fortifications, where they were virtually held as prisoners for the +period of two years, submitting to every sort of deprivation, while +looking in vain for reinforcements and relief from the government of +France. That hoped-for assistance never came. At the close of the second +year, the French troops were absolutely starved out, and compelled to +surrender to the united English and Maltese. This was effected on +honorable terms, the garrison marching out with all the honors of war, +the whole force being transported to Marseilles at the expense of the +British government. General Vaubois, the soldierly commander whom +Bonaparte left in charge of Malta, was a brave and reliable man, and +heroically maintained his trust to the very last, when his troops were +on the verge of starvation. The English historian says, in relating the +circumstances of the surrender: "When the garrison marched out, it was +with famine proudly painted on their cheeks." + +The siege was raised September 5, 1800, whereupon the English took +formal possession of Valletta, together with the entire group, and they +have retained it to the present time. They thus became the masters of +Malta, but disregarded treaty promises, and refused in 1802, as was duly +stipulated, to evacuate, and restore the islands to the Knights of St. +John. It was this which occasioned the rupture of the Peace of Amiens. +Malta was, however, finally and formally transferred to the possession +of England with the approval of the European powers, in 1814, at the +treaty of Paris. + +Since the year 1798, when the Knights of St. John were expelled from +Malta, the ancient order, once so important a factor in the Christian +world, has scarcely more than existed in name, though able to point to +so proud and warlike a career, extending through a period of seven +centuries. Few dynasties of emperors or kings have lasted so long as +this famous order of warrior-monks, whose name was once the synonym for +loyalty, but whose end was brought about by treachery within its own +ranks,--an organization whose members began as paupers, but who ended as +sybarites. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + Conclusion.--A Picture of Sunrise at Malta.--The Upper + Baracca of Valletta.--A Favorite and Sightly Promenade. + --Retrospective Flight of Fancy.--Conflict between the + Soldiers of the Cross and the Crescent.--A Background + Wanting.--Historical and Legendary Malta.--The Secret of + Appreciation.--Last View of the Romantic Group.--Farewell. + + +Travelers in foreign lands learn to rise betimes, stealing from sleep an +hour full of intoxicating beauties. There is an interval between the +soft mellow light of the breaking day and that of sunrise, so full of +promise, of dewy fragrance, and of heavenly incense, that only poets can +truly describe it. As one stands upon the upper Baracca of Valletta and +faces the east at such a moment, the gradually advancing light seems to +melt away the darkness, while angel hands swing wide the golden gates of +day. The sky then dons its deepest blue, the encircling sea glows in +violet blushes beneath the rosy light of the dawn, while the air, +freshened by the dew, is clear and crisp even in this semi-tropical +island. At first a dim uncertainty reigns over all things, but slowly +the weird and phantom-like forms assume their real shapes. The +picturesque town, with its diversified architecture, the tall, isolated +lighthouses, the sleeping islands of Gozo and Comino, the delicate +tracery formed of the rigging of the ships in the harbor, and even the +lonely sentinels upon the battlements come out one by one in bold relief +against the background of mingled gold and silver radiance. The heedless +world still sleeps, and one cannot but feel half guilty at the +selfishness of appropriating alone such an hour of glowing inspiration, +while walking hand in hand with Nature. + +The Baraccas were originally roofed, consisting of arches facing the +sea, but the wooden coverings were long since removed, and they now form +favorite promenades, open to the sky. + +Yielding to the fancy of the moment, while standing upon this elevated +point, remembering the vivid historical tableaux which had been enacted +upon the landscape outspread before us, imagination peopled the scene +once more with myriads of grim, warlike, contending forces arrayed +against each other. One was closely following the standard of the +crescent, the other was ranged beneath the emblem of the +cross,--standing breast to breast, ready to meet the fierce onslaught. +The clash of arms was heard upon the ramparts, the shrill braying of +trumpets sounding the charge, and the steady roll of the drum. In fancy +we watched the hordes of frenzied Turks storming the high walls of Fort +St. Elmo, hastening up the scaling ladders by scores. We saw them +repulsed again and again by the stout arms and flashing weapons of the +gallant Knights of St. John; the ditch was piled with the lifeless +bodies of the Ottoman foe. The atmosphere trembled with the booming of +cannon, the wild shouts of the Mussulmans, the cheering battle-cry of +the Christians, and the pitiful groans of the dying, while the +surrounding waters were red with human gore. Now clouds of smoke +encompass both Turks and Christians. A mine explodes, scattering death +among the invaders. Hark! That trumpet sounds the retreat. The Ottoman +forces fall sullenly back from before the irresistible power of the +Christian arms, leaving half their brethren slain upon the ground. The +enemy goes down under the terrible sweeping blows of battle-axe and of +mace, like grass before the scythe. Loud rings the shout of victory from +the walls of St. Elmo, echoed by forts St. Angelo and St. Michael, while +deadly missiles are swiftly launched after the retreating foe. + +One was fain to ask, "Is this actually the noise of contending armies, +or is it the trick of an overstimulated fancy?" Here, amid such +suggestive surroundings, how natural and real it seemed to be! + +It is only as regards its great antiquity that one would contrast Malta +with our own country. What we are most deficient in is a background in +America,--a background to our national scenery, which in itself is +hardly equaled, and nowhere excelled. By the word "background" we mean +the charm of far-reaching history, legend, classic story, and memories +of bygone ages. We have no such special inspiration as is presented in +the associations of southern Europe and Asiatic localities,--the Bay of +Naples and its surroundings, for instance, or the land of Palestine. +America is still in the youth of its civilization, while in this +isolated Mediterranean group, so circumscribed in space, we have +monuments which may nearly equal the Pyramids in age. These tokens +exhibit here a tangible page of Phoenician and there of Punic history, +together with ruins of Roman and Grecian temples, besides which there +are footprints of many Asiatic tribes. How one's imagination is awakened +by the sight of these half-effaced mementos of races dead and buried so +long ago! Crumbling ruins are milestones, as it were, on the road of +time. What region would not become interesting to an appreciative +observer, under such circumstances? + +Traveling and sight-seeing, let us remember, are like hospitality, the +stranger must freely contribute his share, or the result will surely be +naught. "You will find poetry nowhere, unless you bring some with you," +says Joubert. + +Our last view of the romantic group was under a sky of blue and tranquil +loveliness, bathed in a silvery sheen of moonlight, as seen across the +azure and limpid waters from the deck of a P. & O. steamship, bound +westward to England. We left the harbor of Valletta just at sunset. +While the light was fading away, that of the moon and stars was +hastening into life. The lofty ramparts overhanging the sea cast purple +shadows upon the silent surface of the water. The terraced town stood +out in strong relief, here a dome and there a tower overlooking the tall +stone warehouses, while the slender tracery of the shipping appeared +like spider's webs. The town stood there firm and stately, as though cut +out of the solid rock. + +Our vessel moved at half-speed until St. Elmo was passed, and before we +had fairly laid our course for Gibraltar the clear atmosphere was filled +with the floating strains from a military band in St. George's Square. A +spirit of rest and peacefulness hung over the picturesque old city of +the Knights. Mentally we bade farewell to its curious streets, its +palaces and churches, its grim fortifications and teeming population, +its beautiful gardens and marvelous antiquities. The cool, delicious +fruits and shade of San Antonio lingered in the memory, then Malta, +Gozo, and Comino faded into a vignette, until finally the low-lying +group dipped into the blue surface of the water and was seen no more. + + + + +_BOOKS BY MATURIN M. BALLOU._ + +THE STORY OF MALTA. A New Book. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + + A description of the island of Malta, its history, scenery, + and inhabitants. + +EQUATORIAL AMERICA; descriptive of a Visit to St. Thomas, Martinique, +Barbadoes, and the Principal Capitals of South America. Crown 8vo, +$1.50. + + Nothing worth seeing seems to escape his eye, while all that + would delight others to know is portrayed in a rich, graphic + style.--_New York Observer._ + +AZTEC LAND. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + + Mr. Ballou has made an excellent book out of his visit to + Mexico. He furnishes what everybody desires to know, and + what is not elsewhere accessible in a single + volume.--_Boston Herald._ + +ALASKA: THE NEW ELDORADO. A Summer Journey to Alaska. Crown 8vo, $1.50. +_Tourists' Edition._ With 4 Maps. 16mo, $1.00. + + A charming book of travel, full of information concerning + our great northwestern territory.--_Boston Budget._ + +DUE WEST; or, ROUND THE WORLD IN TEN MONTHS. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + + It is a book of books on foreign travel.--_Boston + Commonwealth._ + +DUE SOUTH; or, CUBA PAST AND PRESENT. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + + Full of information concerning the Bahama Islands, the + Caribbean Sea, and the island of Cuba.... Mr. Ballou is the + ideal traveler.--_Boston Traveller._ + +DUE NORTH; or, GLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIA AND RUSSIA. Crown 8vo, +$1.50. + + It is as useful to read him as it is enjoyable to travel + with him.--_Journal of Education_ (Boston). + +UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS; or, TRAVELS IN AUSTRALASIA. Crown +8vo, $1.50. + + Few persons have traveled so extensively, and no one more + profitably, both to himself and the public, than Mr. + Ballou.--EDWIN P. WHIPPLE. + + + + +_EDITED BY MR. BALLOU._ + + +A TREASURY OF THOUGHT. An Encyclopaedia of Quotations from Ancient and +Modern Authors. 8vo, full gilt, $3.50; half calf or half morocco, $6.00. + + The most complete and exhaustive volume of the kind with + which we are acquainted. The literature of all times has + contributed to it, and the range of reading necessary to its + compilation is the widest.--_Hartford Courant._ + +NOTABLE THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN. A Literary Mosaic. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + + Full of delicious bits from nearly every writer of any + celebrity, English, American, French, or German, early and + modern, it is a fascinating medley. When one takes up the + book it is difficult to lay it down, for one is led on from + one brilliant or striking thought to another, in a way that + is quite absorbing.--_Portland Transcript._ + +PEARLS OF THOUGHT. Choice Sentences from the Wisest Authors. 16mo, full +gilt, $1.25; half morocco, $2.50. + + The first noticeable thing about "Pearls of Thought" is that + the "pearls" are offered in a jewel-box of printing and + binding. The selections have the merit of being short and + sparkling. Authors ancient and modern, and of all nations, + are represented.--_New York Tribune._ + +EDGE-TOOLS OF SPEECH. Crown 8vo, $3.50; half calf or half morocco, +$6.00. + + A remarkable compilation of brilliant and wise sayings from + more than a thousand various sources, embracing all the + notable authors, classic and modern, who have enriched the + pages of history and literature. It might be termed a whole + library in one volume.--_Boston Beacon._ + +GENIUS IN SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. Crown 8vo, $1.50. + + Mr. Ballou displays a broad and thorough knowledge of men of + genius in all ages, and the comprehensive index makes the + volume invaluable as a book of reference, while--a rare + thing in reference books--it is thoroughly interesting for + consecutive reading.--_The Journalist_ (New York). + + *** _For sale by all Booksellers. Sent, post-paid, on + receipt of price by the Publishers_, + + +_HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY, 4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17th St., +New York._ + + + + +_GUIDE BOOKS._ + + +NEW ENGLAND. A Handbook for Travelers. A Guide to the Chief Cities and +Popular Resorts of New England, and to its Scenery and Historic +Attractions. With the Western and Northern Borders from New York to +Quebec. With 6 Maps and 11 Plans. 13th Edition, revised and enlarged +annually. 16mo, $1.50. + + It is a small compact volume, with maps and plans and tours; + with history condensed, and such illustrations as make it a + constant help and pleasure to the tourist. It is admirably + put together, and is a vast labor-saving guide for one who + wishes to know what to see and what he is seeing.--Rev. Dr. + PRIME, in _New York Observer_. + +THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. A Handbook for Travelers. A Guide to the Peaks, +Passes, and Ravines of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and to the +Adjacent Railroads, Highways, and Villages; with the Lakes and Mountains +of Western Maine, also Lake Winnepesaukee and the Upper Connecticut +Valley. With 6 Maps and 6 Panoramas, including the new Appalachian Club +Map. 12th Edition, revised and enlarged annually. 16mo, $1.50. + + Worthy of rank with the best books of its kind. It is + complete and exhaustive, its information is exact, and its + maps are voluminous. It is not only a good thing for a + satchel, but deserves a place in the library.--_Outing_ (New + York). + +THE MARITIME PROVINCES. A Handbook for Travelers. A Guide to the Chief +Cities, Coasts, and Islands of the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and to +their Scenery and Historic Attractions; with the Gulf and River of St. +Lawrence to Quebec and Montreal; also, Newfoundland, and the Labrador +Coast. With 4 Maps and 4 Plans. 9th Edition, revised and enlarged +annually. 16mo, $1.50. + + By its intrinsic value, copiousness of information, and + impartiality it is likely to take the place of all other + guides or hand-books of Canada which we know of.--_Quebec + Chronicle._ + + You should take a good guide-book (Sweetser's Maritime + Provinces is by far the best--containing _everything_ about + the various parts of the Provinces).--_British American + Citizen._ + +DICTIONARY OF BOSTON. By EDWIN M. BACON. New Edition, revised. +With Introduction by GEORGE E. ELLIS, D. D., and Map. 12mo, +flexible cloth, $1.50; boards, $1.00. + + One cannot conceive of a more handy book of its kind. For a + long time just such a compendious volume, with just such + concisely and authoritatively written articles, has been + needed.... It is a cyclopaedia of the Boston of to-day, + interesting and necessary to every Bostonian.--_Boston + Advertiser._ + +BOSTON ILLUSTRATED. An Artistic and Pictorial Description of Boston and +its Surroundings. Containing full descriptions of the City and its +immediate Suburbs, Harbor, and Islands, etc., with numerous Historical +Allusions. New Edition, by EDWARD M. BACON, revised to date, +and containing additional Illustrations and Map. 12mo, paper, 50 cents. + + The aim has been to present much information in small + compass; to make a ready reference book as well as a handy + pocket guide. + +SATCHEL GUIDE. For the Vacation Tourist in Europe. Annual Edition, +revised to date, with additions, and printed from new Plates. A compact +Itinerary of the British Isles, Belgium, and Holland, Germany and the +Rhine, Switzerland, France, Austria, and Italy. With Maps of Great +Britain and Ireland, Continental Europe, Switzerland, Street Plans of +London and Paris, Tables of the Comparative Values of United States and +European Moneys, a Traveler's Calendar of Ecclesiastical and Popular +Festivals, Fairs, etc. 16mo, roan, flexible, $1.50, _net_. + + The book is indeed a model of perspicacity and brevity; all + the advice it gives will be found of immediate service. The + "Satchel Guide" tells the reader _how to travel cheaply + without a sacrifice of comfort_, and this feature of the + book will recommend it to many tourists.--_Pall Mall + Gazette._ + + No voyager to Europe for the first time should fail to take + the "Satchel Guide" with him.... The work stands approved by + long experience.--_New York Evening Post._ + + It will prove an invaluable companion to any one who wishes + to travel quickly, economically, and to the best + advantage.--_New York Tribune._ + + It is the first book we should put in the hands of one going + abroad, with an assurance that it might be implicitly + trusted.--_Boston Transcript._ + + + _HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY, + 4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17th St., New York._ + + + + + +-------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page viii Nesciar changed to Nasciar | + | Page 35 stanch changed to staunch | + | Page 78 Espagna changed to Spagna | + | Page 175 boatman changed to boatmen | + | Page 201 asigned changed to assigned | + | Page 231 Nesciar changed to Nasciar | + | Page 279 belligerants changed to belligerents | + +-------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Malta, by Maturin M. Ballou + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF MALTA *** + +***** This file should be named 34036.txt or 34036.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/0/3/34036/ + +Produced by Julia Miller, Barbara Kosker and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |